A BOURNEMOUTH man has run an incredible 48 park runs in 48 hours to raise money for a Dorset mental health charity.

Pete Thompson, a marathon runner and running coach from Bournemouth, has completed 48 park runs in King’s Park over just two days, raising over £6,600 for Dorset Mind.

The challenge saw him run 5km every hour over the two-day period, with his limits tested by extreme weather, below freezing temperatures, a lack of sleep and physical exhaustion.

Pete was joined by someone for each park run, including Dorset Mind managers, ambassador Ty Temel and Bournemouth boxing legend Chris Billam-Smith, who Pete went to school with.

This is not the first time Pete has fundraised for Dorset Mind, and to date he has raised over £50,000 for mental health charities.

Pete said: “I can’t quite describe how it feels to have finished this challenge.

“The support has been incredible, and I genuinely could not have done this on my own. I never had to run one parkrun on my own and that says a lot about my wonderful friends, family and the running community.”

Dorset Mind CEO Linda O’Sullivan said: “This is such an incredible achievement that Pete should be congratulated for. We’re very proud of him and in awe of his dedication and determination to complete the challenge – even when it got extremely tough!

‘We’re hugely grateful for Pete’s continued support – not only has he raised a significant amount of donations, he managed to inspire our local community, which in turn, raises mental health awareness – something that we’re extremely passionate about.”

Dr Andrew Mayers, patron at Dorset Mind and principal academic at Bournemouth University, said: “I am truly grateful to Pete for enduring this epic effort to raise essential funds for us at Dorset Mind.

“It also further underlines the evidence about how activity can boost mental health. We can all do something about that. It does not need to be as extreme as what Pete has done; just a little more activity each day may be all it takes.”

To make a donation visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/peter-thompson4848