Shropshire cricketer inspires England hero Ben Stokes with garden marathon
A Shropshire cricketer-turned-runner has inspired England's World Cup and Ashes hero Ben Stokes to complete a half marathon – by completing 2,387 runs in his own garden.
Rob Treasure, 24, who lives near Ludlow was joined by two friends – from their own gardens across the country – in completing a marathon by running between the wickets, amounting to 2,387 runs, all while wearing cricket gear.
Between them they have so far raised £5,206 for the NHS and cricket charity Chance to Shine.
It turns out that the efforts from former Shrewsbury School-pupil Rob and his friends, Charlie Newman and Rob Cross, have inspired another hero – after Ben Stokes announced on his Instagram page that seeing their challenge had encouraged him to complete a half marathon for charity.
He completed it this afternoon.
Stokes, who produced an awe-inspiring innings to win England last year's World Cup and was responsible for one of the greatest cricketing performances in history to win the Ashes test at Headingly last summer, said he wanted people to add to the trio's Cricket Garden Marathon fundraising.
Speaking before the event he said: "I am going to be supporting Chris and the two Robs who have just completed their Cricket Garden Marathon."
The all-rounder added: "I am going to be doing a half marathon, just in the distance. It has always been something I have thought about doing but never really got round to ever doing it, obviously we are in lockdown so I thought what a great opportunity to go out and do it.
"And then I got to thinking if I am going to do it I might as well try and raise some finds for a good cause like the NHS Covid-19 urgent appeal and then my wife Clare, said "have you seen what the guys are doing in their garden by doing the marathon?", so then I went on to check on their page and they are supporting the NHS but also the Chance to Shine foundation which obviously has a very close attachment to cricket which is what I am."
He added: "Basically I am going to be running a half marathon on Tuesday, just down the road, or wherever it takes me and I will be hopefully inspiring people to make some donations towards the Cricket Garden Marathon. They have done a fantastic job already in raising funds so I am just trying to add some more funds to what they have managed to do and it is obviously a great cause."
Rob, who has turned out for Brampton Bryan Cricket Club completed his challenge in five hours and 33 minutes, with the trio's efforts streamed live on the Chance to Shine Facebook page.
The three friends, who are currently enrolled at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, set an initial target for the fundraising page at £2,000. However, thanks to the support they have revised that to £6,000.
Rob said “We were astonished that Ben had seen our efforts and was getting behind us. For him to decide to take on a challenge of his own and encourage people to donate to our page is fantastic and we wish him all the very best.
“In these unsettling times, we wanted to do something to help and so of course we wanted to support the NHS who are doing an amazing job. We all love cricket and the Chance to Shine charity is giving so many children and young people across the country the opportunity to play cricket and experience everything that is great about the sport. Leadership and teamwork are important values to us in the Army but are skills which are transferable in all walks of life, especially cricket."
Chance to Shine is a national cricket charity that delivers cricket coaching sessions in a quarter of primary schools in England and Wales every year. The charity reached more than 600,000 children in the last academic year, providing many young people with the opportunity to play, learn and develop through cricket.
Since the start of the Covid-19 national lockdown, the charity has focussed its efforts on supporting teachers and parents to keep children active through digital cricket sessions, made available every week, that can be used in the home, with limited space and equipment.
Chief executive at Chance to Shine, Laura Cordingley, said: “When we heard that the Garden Marathon team were going to be taking on the challenge to raise funds for Chance to Shine, we were absolutely delighted. Just like nearly every other part of society, the charity sector has been hit very hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. We’re very grateful for the funds raised by Rob, Rob and Charlie that will support the charity through this tricky period
“For Ben to see their efforts and decide to support them is really amazing. I’m sure he could have raised a huge amount in his own name but to get behind their fundraising page is a really amazing gesture. I want to thank Ben for his support and wish him the very best of luck in his challenge.”
People can support Ben and the Garden Marathon team at bit.ly/gardenmara
