Market Harborough garage owner clocking up 60 miles in exhausting long distance fundraiser

Sid Parr, owner of Parr Automotive First Stop in Riverside End, has been on an exhausting challenge throughout the month, after his mum was diagnosed with the condition four-and-a-half years ago and his uncle died from it in 2014.

The 46-year-old has already raised £1,200 for the cause and in a family team consisting of sister Katie Campion and cousins Mary James and Gareth James, £3,394 has been collected between the four of them.

Sid, who lives in Desborough, wants to hit the £5,000 figure before hanging up his running vest and is urging people to sponsor him after polishing off the final 12 miles at the Market Harborough parkrun at the weekend. After hitting the milestone, he is planning to keep on going to see how many more miles he can clock up.

He said: “I had an urge to raise money for the MND Association having seen their amazing work first hand. I just wanted to do something to make a small difference while showing my love towards my mum in my own way. It is hard to see the person you have loved all of your life slowly fade away, which is what MND does to people.

“Having been diagnosed four-and-a-half years ago, we don’t know how long she has left and is no longer able to communicate with us. One of the worst aspects is being powerless to do anything, so the closest thing we could think of was to embark on this 60 mile run challenge during the month of August.”

Sid, who has received huge backing from family, friends and customers as well as the First Stop network which his garage is signed up to for automotive support, has been running every day, even when on holiday including 5km in Seville and 10k in the Algarve.

He now has 12 miles left to complete and said that while the feeling of achievement will be incredible, there had been some tough moments along the way.

He added: “There were times when I was out running, thinking that I couldn’t do it anymore and motivation was a real issue on occasions, but I got a huge amount of motivation when I’d think of mum. Just thinking of her reminded me why I’m doing it and she spurred me on each day.”

To donate to Sid’s 100km running cause, visit https://www.facebook.com/donate/3489344814638846/