Local man runs ultra-marathon around Gower for charity

A man from Mumbles is running an ultramarathon to raise money for the charity, Mind, tomorrow.

Luke Cox will running the 40-mile ultramarathon around the Gower coastline.

"In the first lockdown I started to run a little bit more and, while a lot of things we could do were restricted, I was able to run and get outside to enjoy the surroundings," said Mr Cox.

"It was something I was going to do anyway, and I thought it would be a nice idea to donate money to charity and do something positive that I was going to do off my own back anyway."

Mr Cox set up a fundraiser three days ago, which has already raised over £1,200.

Mr Cox will be accompanied by two other people, socially distanced, when he runs the ultramarathon. They will start at different times but roughly follow the same route.

He will start from where he lives in the Mumbles and head towards Horton and Port Eynon before turning back on himself.

"I like getting out and exercising and this is a test to see how far I can push myself. I've never run over 31 miles before, so this is a challenge I set myself to see if I would be able to run that distance," Mr Cox continued.

"I have a little bit of nervous energy, but more so excitement. I'm hoping that the weather is kind, because I think there are predictions of rain.

"We're very grateful for the generous donations that people have made and we're just hoping that that will continue to climb, and that when people see we're doing the run tomorrow, more money will be donated."

Mr Cox is raising money for Mind, a charity that supports mental health.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), almost 19.2% of adults were likely to be experiencing some form of depression during the pandemic in June 2020. This figure had almost doubled from around 9.7% between July 2019 and March 2020, prior to the pandemic.

"We're going through quite a tough time now with the lockdown and we can see that people are struggling with these restrictions," Mr Cox continued.

"It was just the idea that people's mental health is suffering over this period of time, and I've seen stuff online from those charities saying they're not fully supported. I just thought if I could do something to support those in any way, it's something good to do and meaningful."

Mr Cox will start the ultramarathon at around 8am and hopes to finish within 8-10 hours.

You can donate to Luke Cox's fundraising page here.