Devoted husband's week of fundraising in memory of his wife

Mark Brown, 57, engaged in an array of fundraising activities last week to raise funds for the Motor Neurone Disease Association and Cancer Research UK.

He was fundraising in memory of his late wife Shirley, and his sister-in-law, who both passed away indirectly through motor neurone disease, as well as the other members of his family who have suffered with cancer.

The final total is yet to be calculated, but he has raised more than £1,000 and the total is predicted to double.

As a part of his fundraising, Mr Brown engaged in several escapades. On Monday, 20 August, he kicked off the drive by playing 72 straight holes of golf at Wokefield Park for a marathon-esque 12-and-a-half hours.

Mark said: “I usually play golf anyway, and that’s where the idea started. I just wanted to do this, but then I was persuaded to do other items that were on my bucket list, including doing a marathon.”

It was decided that all of these challenges should happen in the same week, so on Wednesday, 22 August, Mark ran the length of a marathon starting at The Swan in Sherborne St John. He finished at the Corals branch in Tadley, where he works as an evening cashier/manager.

The third challenge that Mark set for himself was to cycle the distance from Basingstoke to Cornwall, where the family used to go on holiday, but it was decided that he would do this on a static bike at the Sainsbury’s depot in Houndmills, where Mark also works as a team manager.

The final element was a pub quiz held in Oakridge.

Mark added: “I’d like to thank my daughters Ria and Lauren, who helped me with the events. I’d like to thank Jacqueline Moring as well for her help with the quiz. Sainsbury’s has also been a great help, letting me do the cycle here and have the bucket out.”

Darren Staniland, operations manager at the Sainsbury’s depot, said: “We’re really proud to support Mark, he’s really dedicated to his personal challenge and is really committed, so it is great to support him.”