Five marathons in five days to fund 100,000 meals

A man pushed on through the searing heat to complete the first stage of a five-marathon challenge to fund 100,000 meals for the hungry.

Luke Helmn, from Poulton-le-Fylde, is aiming to raise £50,000 for Blackpool's Big Food Project.

The 50-year-old completed his first run in three hours and 49 seconds, saying he would be "taking it easier now, because my tree trunk legs were feeling the heat at the end".

Temperatures in Blackpool topped 23C, while other parts of the country recorded their all-time highest May temperature.

Luke said thanks to "incredible support" from Blackpool Freedom Runners and cold baths, he was re-energised and on course to finish the remainder of his 133-mile (214-km) challenge.

Luke said while he was a runner in his youth, he stopped at about the age of 24, when his father died.

He said he "ballooned to 20 stone".

He returned to running in 2023, when he set up Ron's Mile to raise money to buy a memorial bench for his father, an RAF veteran who went on to instruct thousands of children in athletics while living with cancer for over a decade.

The bench, in Stanley Park, was then sponsored by a local firm, so Luke decided to use the rest of the money raised to support the Big Food Project.

The Big Food Project was under threat of closure until an "incredibly generous donation" saved it in December, founder Neil Reid said.

The organisation, which has about 150 volunteers, was set up in 2012 and initially started as Blackpool Food Bank.

It said it distributed about 50 tonnes of food a month to food banks.

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