Fund-raiser’s incredible 50k ultramarathon on Christmas Day starting in Manchester for The Christie hospital

While many people across Greater Manchester were tucking into turkey and opening their presents on Christmas Day one incredible fund-raiser was out pounding the streets running an ultramarathon in aid of a cancer hospital.

Scott Taylor came up with the idea of doing a 50km run between Manchester city centre and Astley in Wigan borough on 25 December to support The Christie and pay tribute to two family members who have died.

He laced up his trainers and completed the extraordinary Christmas challenge in just under four and a half hours.

Scott has been taking on a number of challenges for The Christie and has raised thousands of pounds, and says he has further ideas in mind to push himself to his physical limit.

What was Scott’s Christmas Day ultramarathon and why did he decide to do it?

Scott set off on Christmas Day at around 11am from his starting point outside The Midland Hotel in the middle of Manchester. He then proceeded to do two loops around the city, taking him as far as Fallowfield and Ancoats, before heading out of Manchester to Astley along the East Lancs Road.

Once he got there he was still around 13km short of his 50k target so his girlfriend Natalie Fahey mapped out a suitable route around the local area and joined him for the final leg of the epic running challenge.

Completing the endurance test at around 3.30pm, Scott was then able to enjoy the rest of Christmas Day with Natalie and her family.

Scott, from Wilmslow, did the run as a joint tribute to his aunt Dawn Wright and his nan Mary Wright, who both lived in the Partington area in Trafford. Dawn was treated at The Christie before her death around a year ago, while Mary died a few months ago. He wore both their names on his running socks for the challenge.

He said he decided to do the ultramarathon on Christmas Day because he wanted to make the fund-raising event as eye-catching as possible for potential sponsors.

Scott, 37, said: “It was painful in parts but there’s a good sense of achievement. I just think Christmas Day isn’t a day where people would expect someone to be out there on the road grinding and putting themselves through the pain.

“I hoped it would get a few more people behind me to sponsor me. I’ve done a couple of marathons but I had never done an ultramarathon before. I wanted to push myself to an extreme, just to see if I had it in the tank and also pay tribute to a couple of family members. To be honest if I hadn’t had it in my legs I would have finished anyway, no matter what.”

Why does Scott fund-raise for The Christie?

Scott has now raised several thousand pounds for The Christie, with his Christmas Day challenge alone having brought in £1,000 already on the event’s JustGiving page.

He said the prevalence of cancer, combined with the experiences of those he knows who have had the disease, pushes him to raise as much money as he can for the specialist cancer trust.

Scott said: “Statistics show that one in two people will get cancer in our lifetimes. I’ve had quite a few family members and friends affected by it.

“My aunt just loved the way The Christie treated her and how good the staff were. My uncle, her husband, hasn’t got anything but good things to say about it as well.

“If I can put my body through extremes to raise money foor The Christie I will do it, and me being able to make an impact towards cancer is a nice thing for me to do but also for the family.”

Scott, who works as a personal trainer and includes his charity challenges on Instagram, is now looking to continue pushing himself to support The Christie in 2023. His plans include trying to beat his personal best marathon time of three hours and nine minutes and taking part in Hyrox, a gruelling fitness competition.