The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
A Spalding soldier has raised thousands for a suicide prevention charity by running more than 75 miles around the Isle of Wight in one day.
Elliott Lea (24) took around 17 hours to complete the feat for the Papyrus charity.
The lance corporal serving with the 23 Para Engineer Regiment began his run at 5am on March 30, finally completing a total of 75.8 miles.
“I can’t remember what time I finished as I was pretty mentally exhausted by that point to be honest,” Elliott said. “I actually had to run two miles further than I thought due to parts of the costal path being closed and there being no signposted diversions.
“I had to go massively out of the way, so that was quite demoralising but it was worth it seeing the money raised.”
Elliott was backed by support from family and friends.
Army colleagues also joined him for large parts of the run, including one who ran alongside him for the final 30 miles.
“The support I had was really good,” he continued. “It was quite humbling how everyone came down to support me including my family and my girlfriend Emily’s family from Spalding.
“They all came to every checkpoint I’d arranged and my mum was giving me food while my dad was massaging my legs.
“My mum then drove back the next day as I was in quite a lot of pain.”
At the time of writing Elliott had raised more than £3,600 for Papyrus.
Alongside his friends Connor Lewis, Josh Clarke and Jamie Bingham, last year he raised £2,572 for the charity completing the Three Peaks Challenge.
All four men knew someone who took their own life.
Suicide is the biggest killer of young people under the age of 35 in the UK – in 2018 more than 1,800 young people took their own lives.
Papyrus provides confidential support and advice to young people struggling with thoughts of suicide, and anyone worried about a young person through their helpline, HopelineUK which is available by calling 0800 0684141, texting 07860 039967 or emmailing pat@papyrus-uk.org
After a week’s break, Elliott was back running last Sunday when he took part in the Brighton Marathon finishing in 2.59.29.
You can still donate to Papyrus through Elliott at www.justgiving.com/page/elliott-lea-1701525489678
