A SALISBURY based-charity has benefited from a novice runner who managed to complete seven marathons in seven days.
The Wildfish charity has the aim of conserving freshwater fish species and their habitats and Lucca Froud, 20 from London, felt inspired to raise money for the charity after meeting the chief executive Mr Measham.
He began the challenge in Marble Arch in London and ran 200 miles to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris attempting to raise £35,000 for Wildfish.
Mr Froud said: “At times it felt impossible, but we found a way to make it happen.”
He ran for about five hours each day and completed the challenge on Saturday, September 9 with support from his girlfriend having to battle both calf and knee injuries.
He said: “Knowing that you aren’t doing it just for yourself, but for something important and to make your family and your girlfriend’s family proud, makes it easier. The support from friends and family and people online has been amazing too.”
They walked the last few miles to the Arc de Triomphe just taking it all in and kept looking at each other saying “we are really going to do it.”
A politics and international relations student, Mr Froud has currently raised more than £8,000 for Wildfish and hopes more donations will continue to come in.
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Passionate about fishing and swimming, he recalled swimming among hundreds of sea bass along the shoreline and said: “Unfortunately, my children likely won’t have the chance to experience them. If you really believe in something, you should do what you can to help. Climate change is the most significant threat to humans and the natural world.
“Central to preventing it is our natural waters, our oceans, and our rivers. Aside from being incredibly beautiful ecosystems, they’re incredible carbon sinks, so it is in everyone’s collective interest to protect them.”
Almost a quarter of English rivers are at serious risk from unsustainable water abstraction with the average person using 150 litres of water a day and biodiversity is also threatened through sewage and chemicals entering rivers.
Chief executive of the Wildfish charity, Mr Measham, said: “We hope that Lucca’s enthusiasm for wild fish conservation and this remarkable test of endurance will help to raise awareness of the urgent need for change.”
For more information on the challenge, go to justgiving.com
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