Ben Stokes to run half marathon to raise funds for charity

Ben Stokes (Twitter)

London, May 5: England all-rounder Ben Stokes will on Tuesday run his first ever half marathon to raise funds for the Britain's National Health Services (NHS) Charities Together and national childrens cricket charity Chance to Shine amid COVID-19 crisis.

Speaking on his Instagram page, Stokes, while admitting that the furthest he had ever run was 8km, said "(A half marathon) is always been something that I've thought about doing a but never really got around to ever doing it. Obviously we've been in lockdown so I thought what a great opportunity to go out and if I'm going to do it I might as well try and raise some funds.

"I will be hopefully inspiring people to make some donations towards the Cricket Garden Marathon, I'm just trying to add some more funds to what they've managed to do. They are supporting NHS and are also supporting Chance to Shine which is obviously got a very close attachment to cricket, which is what I am.

"I've done absolutely no training, the longest distance that I've ever run is 8 kilometres. So, I don't even know if I'm going to be able to complete it but hopefully I can. I'm sure if I get to a point where I feel like I can't go on I know that I'm doing it for a good course and that will get me over the line," he added.

Chief Executive at Chance to Shine Laura Cordingley said: "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."

Chance to Shine is a national cricket charity that delivers cricket coaching sessions in a quarter of primary schools in England & Wales every year.