Devoted Uncle takes on three-day run to celebrate late niece’s 10th birthday

Christian, 44, on his 3 day marathon. Pic: Baby Beat

Christian Harding celebrated the 10th birthday of his late niece, Martha Kinley, by raising £2,376 in her name for mums and babies’ charity, Baby Beat.

Preston native but Scotland based Christian devised a 175-mile route that followed both the Fife Coastal Path and the Fife Pilgrim Way.

Leaving at 5am on the Friday morning, he set himself a 60-hour goal to reach his finish line, St Andrew’s Cathedral, by late afternoon on the Sunday. He got there at 8.20 pm on the Sunday evening in 63 hours, 20 minutes.

Christian said: “I managed to run 142 miles on just three and a half hours’ sleep.”

He continued: “As an experience though, it was amazing and very enriching especially as I had so many friends and family alongside me for much of the route. My parents and Clare and Ben were there throughout the night with food and changes of clothes.

Running almost nonstop for three days and two nights, Christian was joined either virtually or in real life by loved ones. Including Martha’s brothers Elliott, 12 and Orren, 5.

“Elliott, who had been at a scout camp, ran 6.5k on the treadmill in Fulwood while Orren ran along a coastal path with me and also did some treadmill running when he got home. My brother James, his wife Kari and 12-year-old son Beckett, who live in Pennsylvania, ran 21k virtually with me, while a number of friends also joined me. Briony (Christian’s wife) was incredible as in total, she must have covered more than 60 miles. I also received very generous sponsorship for which I am incredibly grateful.”

Christian has raised a total of £5,366 for Baby Beat since 2019 by running in memory of Martha.

He explained: “Martha was born poorly. While she was with us, she was looked after brilliantly by the staff at Sharoe Green Maternity Unit. Clare, Ben and Elliott, who was just two at the time, as well as myself and other family members, were able to spend as much time as possible with her thanks to a special family room on the unit funded by Baby Beat.”

Baby Beat is part of the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Charity family. They fund specialist equipment, patient services, clinical care, local research, additional training and staff welfare projects so that the maternity and gynaecology teams can offer the best possible care for babies and mums.

For more information on Baby Beat’s work and how to support, visit www.babybeat.org.uk

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