5,701,600 metres completed in Wolverhampton fundraiser

The Best Foot Forward event took place at Wolverhampton's Aldersley Stadium – and saw around 500 people collectively run 14,254 400m laps in 12 hours, meaning 5,701,600 metres were covered in total.

Each time a lap is completed, £1 from a £11,800 pot is split between the Rotary Club of Wolverhampton, the Wolverhampton MS Therapy Centre and Central Youth Theatre.

The charity kitty is made up of a minimum of £250 donations, which have been pledged by event patrons, drawn from local community-minded businesses and organisations.

Now in it's fifth year, the event was hailed as a roaring success by organisers.

Geoff Lowndes, aged 77, head of Wolverhampton’s Rotary Club’s organising committee, said: "We were delighted with how it went. The weather was very kind to the runners and walkers.

"One of significant things is that we had broadly a similar number of runners to last year but the laps covered in every hour throughout the day were a record for the event. It was a record number for the event by quite a margin.

"The charity pot as we describe it is donated by about 40 companies who donate amounts from £250 upwards which made a total of £11,800. There were almost 500 runners this year."

Since it started, the Best Foot Forward event has raised almost £80,000 for various charities.

This year, there were 23 'centurion runners' who managed over 100 laps across the day between 8am and 8pm – in which there were four athletes who managed a whopping 200 laps.

Anyone who accomplished 100 laps will be formally made a centurion at the Best Foot Forward upcoming presentation.

Among those taking part included squads of trainees from RAF Cosford, as each squad competed to run the most laps.

For more information on the event go to www.wolverhamptonbestfootforward.com.