A man has ditched the cheese and wine to run every day this year for a charity close to his heart.

Carl Mitch from Warfield has taken on his biggest challenge yet, despite 'never running before' in his life.

The 45-year-old who runs a martial arts gym in Windsor has decided to take on the running challenge for charity after his cousin had to have one of his legs amputated due to a health condition.

He said: "I needed something to keep me fit and focused during these trying times, the Cheese and alcohol diet wasn't doing me any favours and I am no spring chicken.

Bracknell News: Carl MitchCarl Mitch

"At 45 yrs old and running has never been my thing so i thought I'd try and get myself moving everyday doing one of the things I've always disliked. When I decided to do it for charity I thought an initial target of £365 would be good as its just a pound a day for every day. But now we're up to £496 which is absolutely awesome." ALSO READ: How much has Bracknell MP James Sunderland claimed on expenses?

Limb Care UK is a charity which offers advice and support to amputee/limb impaired individuals, communities, families and others impacted around them.

Carl's cousin has received help from the charity and he hopes to help other amputees through this running challenge.

The local runner has got himself into a routine of waking up at 6.30am everyday for his runs.

So far, he has completed one of his longest runs at 17.78km and he's on his way to running his first marathon distance in a couple of weeks.

Carl's running schedule each week:

  • Monday - 5km
  • Tuesday- 6.5 km
  • Wednesday 10 or 11km
  • Thursday 6.5 km
  • Friday 4.10 km
  • Saturday 19.40 km
  • Sunday 4.10 km

The Warfield resident's running journey started during a difficult time as the Covid-19 pandemic saw his Martial Arts business forced to close.

He explained: "I started as I was just out for a walk and was having a bit of a fed up type of moment, (thinking about the impact the year was having on people and also being a bit annoyed at myself for making excuses for letting my own fitness go! ).

Bracknell News: Running through water Running through water

"So I just decided to do a few laps of the field I was walking through, not the best thing in walking boots...I had a bit of a chat with myself and thought there's no reason why I shouldn't be able to just get up early every morning and do a run!"

"My initial plan was just to run every day until Christmas day and it kind of went from there. I've got into a habit now of getting my running gear ready the night before, just set my alarm and when it goes off at 6:30am I just get up take a big deep breath, sometimes question my sanity, get dressed and go out."

Carl's running efforts haven't gone unnoticed, with residents feeling inspired to run more after seeing his lighthearted daily updates joking about being unfit and moaning about running on his Instragram page.