Telford mother's 65km lockdown treadmill trek for charity
The coronavirus lockdown has prevented one Telford woman from taking on a 65km hike which she normally does for charity, so she replicated the trek at home on a treadmill.
Emma Hughes' five-year-old son Chester lives with cystic fibrosis, and she has walked the Great Strides 65km in the Surrey Hills twice now to raise money.
It was cancelled like many other events because of the pandemic and the family is shielding because of Chester's condition, so Emma, from Donnington, hopped on her treadmill and walked for more than nine hours for sponsorships.
She even added an extra burden by wearing a 7kg weight vest for the duration.
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Emma has already raised more than £2,500 for the Cystic Fibrosis trust and the fundraiser is still going at uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Chesterxavier.
She said: "I ran the first 10 miles and then it was a mixture of walking and running.
"I started at 7am and I was finished by 4.30pm. My boys [Chester and older brother Oakley] took it in turns to sit in the garage on a folding chair to keep me company.
"I was on my own and just had to keep going. At the actual event you have support while you're out there. The scenery on the route is also incredible.
"It was hard, you're staring at the same four walls. I did have my garage door open."
Emma missed walking on St Martha's Hill in Surrey and replicated the sloping walk by cranking up the incline on the treadmill.
Kind neighbours even dropped off goody bags with sweets, bananas and Lucozade, while Ragnar, the family's Boston Terrier, kept her company throughout.
