Man runs 100km challenge in memory of his sister

Ben Horley, 33, from Blackbourne Chase, took part in the 100km South Coast Challenge from Eastbourne to Arundel last Saturday (August 27).

Ben, a groundsman at the Littlehampton sportsfield decided to run the race over the South Downs in memory of his sister, Stacey Cunningham.

Stacey died in March this year at the age of just 34 after suffering from cancer.

She was treated at St Barnabas right up until she died, inspiring Ben to raise money for the hospice to help them keep up their outstanding care for patients.

He said: “I wanted to run it for my sister and raise money for St Barnabas just to show how much of a great place it is.

“They offered fantastic care for my sister right up until she died.

“The care she received in her final days and throughout diagnosis was second to none.

“Their service was absolutely remarkable.”

Ben completed the 100km race in 16 hours and 15 minutes, coming an impressive 45th place out of approximately 2,000 people.

Throughout the race, Ben held onto a photograph of his sister to keep himself motivated.

He added: “There were quite a few times where it got very difficult but I just kept my head down and used a picture of my sister in my hand to keep myself motivated.

“It was a really hard race. It was baking hot on the day but overall it went really well.

“I had trained for this for about three or four months before.

“My training included running long distances over tough terrain and building the strength in my legs in order to complete the distance.

“The race itself provided an opportunity to run across the downs which was nice because you don’t always get the chance to go up there and see how nice it is.

“It was an extremely tiring day but so worth it.

“I hope my sister is proud of me because I wanted to do this for her.”

Ben began the race at 7am last Saturday and finished 16 hours later, just after 11pm.

Ben had set a minimum target for his fundraiser at £2,000 but has recently gone past that figure and is expecting a few more donations to come in soon.

If you would like to donate to Ben’s challenge and St Barnabas then you can do so via Ben’s JustGiving page: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Wendy-Tulley.

Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live.

Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on.

1) Make our website your homepage

2) Like our Facebook page

3) Follow us on Twitter

4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here.

And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!

Always the first with your local news.

Be part of it.