A Barrow school teacher has completed the Lakeland Trails 100k Ultra Run to raise money for new reading books for his school and for children's mental health.

Mark Bailey, 44, a teacher at St. Paul's C of E Junior School, took on the route which takes runners through much of the Eastern and central fells of the Lake District.

The challenging route has an elevation of over 3,500m. The dad-of-two children managed to achieve it in just under 19 hours after beginning at midnight. 

Mark said: "I've always enjoyed running and have been training for this since January this year. I completed the 55k last year and the Lakeland Trails 100k Ultra Run was something I'd always wanted to do. 

"It was quite amazing to see the fells at midnight and seeing the sunrise over Haweswater was quite special. There were around 200 other people taking part and it was great have people there cheering throughout the day and my wife and kids there supporting me."

The Mail: Mark picture of the sunrise over Haweswater

Mark was wearing a tracker during his challenge so the schoolchildren could keep track of him throughout. They also joined with the challenge by running 100 laps of the school field themselves over the course of a few weeks.

Mark added: "100k is obviously a bit harsh so we said 100 laps of the school fields. Around 25 pupils have taken part and they've had so much fun. They've been doing it in their own time before school and during play so it's really touching. 

"They kept coming telling how many laps they've done. They were my motivation really because I thought if the kids can complete 100 laps then I can complete the 100k so they kept me going."

So far, close to £1,000 has been raised through the crowdfunding page and collections. The proceeds will be split evenly and go towards Barnardo's and extending the school's library collection.

The Mail: St Paul's C of E Junior School in Barrow

Mark added: "As a teacher, I see firsthand the great work Barnardo's do to help with children's mental health and also working with families. The pandemic has really shown how important is it to look after children's mental health. 

"Reading is such an important part of children's education too so and we'd like to update some of the books we have at the library and update the quality of books each class has access to - and hopefully add some more.

The page is still open for donations, to donate to Mark's page, please visit the Just Giving page at https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/mark-bailey-100k.