A father-of-two from Maidstone has raised nearly £4,000 for the Heart of Kent Hospice by running a marathon in his back garden and taking part in an indoor cycle.

On Easter Sunday, Martin Glover from Loose, completed a 112 mile cycle on a Zwift before running 1758 laps of his garden.

With the support of three-year-old Emily, 10-year-old Samuel and his wife Debbie, Mr Glover started the challenge at 6:30am and finished just after eight o'clock that evening.

The 35-year-old said: "I don't think it's sunk in yet, I'm still in shock by it all.

"My kids were brining me ice lollies and drinks and my wife was counting every lap so it was a really good family day."

Mr Glover originally set himself the challenge of the garden marathon with the hope of raising £800. After smashing this target in just four hours, he decided to upgrade the challenge to include the cycle.

"I wanted to do a full Ironman challenge including a swim but I can't do that in lockdown so I just decided to stick with the cycling and running.

"I really didn't think I would get over £800 to begin with so to get to nearly £4,000 has blown me away.

"People watching on the live stream were messaging with words of encouragement and that was really nice. Just on the day we raised more than £1,000."

Mr Glover chose the Heart of Kent Hospice in Aylesford after its staff cared for both his grandparents.

"I thought the only way to raise money for the hospice at a time like this was to do something a bit different.

"They took really good care of my grandparents so this is just me doing my bit to say thank you."

Mr Glover says he is now hoping to train for a full Ironman challenge in September.

Donations can still be made by clicking here.

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