A SOUTHAMPTON runner completed a marathon in his own back garden - in a bid to beat the lockdown blues.

Married father of three Gareth Allen, who has more than 150 marathons and ultra marathons under his belt, measured out the marathon distance of 26.2 miles, calculating it to be around 1066 laps of his Bassett garden.

But he actually ended up running 1254 laps in six hours, a total of 30.8 miles, as the live stream gained viewers from around the globe and his fundraising efforts for two Southampton charities went into the thousands of pounds raised.

Footage of the run has been viewed 350,000 times and more than £2,500 has been raised for Great Oaks School and the Hurricanes Rugby Club, both of which help children with learning difficulties, including Gareth’s son.

The 47-year-old told the Daily Echo: "I'm still getting out running in the evenings but you can’t stay out long and I need to get my long runs in somehow so I came up with this. It seemed a good idea at the time!

“It started off as a bit of a joke and I shared the stream with friends from a couple of running groups and it just started snowballing from there. My family were reading out messages from Australia, Trinidad and Tobago and Thailand, which definitely provided that extra little bit of motivation.

“It’s really knocked a lot of people not being able to go out out and have a run with friends so I thought this would be a bit of fun and it really did help that so many people who had nothing better to do with their afternoon tuned in!

“The running was not a big deal for me, but it’s all the interest and publicity that’s followed that I never expected.

“It seems to me that social distancing is really managing to bring communities together.”

Gareth completed his first marathon in 2007, but has done the vast majority of his big runs in recent years and now takes part in 100 mile endurance events.

Great Oaks School is a 230 place secondary school for young people with a range of complex learning difficulties including autism and speech and language difficulties.

Based at Eastleigh RFC and running since 2008, the Hurricanes is a rugby club for children and adults with learning difficulties. It has around 20 members ranging from seven to 27 years old.

Donate to Gareth’s fundraising efforts at gofundme.com/f/gareths-1200miles-in-12-months