THERE’S no resting for Redditch superman Martin Carver.
Fresh from completing his epic 200km run in aid of the NHS dressed in superhero outfits, he’s back in front of the camera doing mobility and keep active Zoom sessions for senior citizens and the town’s vulnerable.
A fortnight ago set out to run 54km across the 31 districts of Redditch and raise £900 for the people he describes as ‘the real heroes – our doctors and nurses’.
By the close he had covered Studley, Alcester, run through Birmingham city centre to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and topped it off last Saturday with a run to the Princess of Wales in Bromsgrove before re-uniting with his family in the town centre.
He dreamt of raising £10,000 and although he didn’t quite achieve that, he did smash his original target, bringing in £2,180 in total.
“I didn’t raise as much money as I wanted to, but if I’d raised £10,000 I would have wanted £100,000,” said the former NCO in the Parachute Regiment.
And he admits that the run, taking the Alex and Worcestershire Royal as well as the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, gave him an incredible buzz.
“The aim was to put a smile on people’s faces when the number of people dying from Covid-19 was pretty grim, and I think I achieved that,” he said.
“The reception I got at the QE was absolutely amazing, a bit embarrassing really and not one I really deserved because they are the real heroes.”
It was an emotional return too as the 60-year-old, a cancer survivor, had been treated at the hospital.
“Bromsgrove too was overwhelming, it quite took me by surprise.
“When I went to Afghanistan I worked with some of the NHS staff volunteering out there, and they weren’t good times either, so I have huge respect for them.”
And Martin, a furloughed coach at the Abbey Stadium, doesn’t have any plans yet to hang up his superhero suits.
“If someone was to sponsor me I’d quite happily run round some of our major cities for our NHS, no problem,” he said.
Martin’s Just Giving page is still open at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Martin-carver .
