Great Brickhill runner's London Marathon cash rockets after video
A runner who is training for the London Marathon has smashed his fundraising target after his son posted a video of him on social media.Darren Ryan, 56, from Great Brickhill in Buckinghamshire, is raising money for Willen Hospice in Milton Keynes.His 22-year-old son, OIly, filmed him running around the village wearing a T-shirt that showed a QR code for donations.He said reaction to the video had been "crazy" and it had now had more than two million views.
Olly Ryan told BBC Three Counties Radio he decided to publicise his dad's efforts because he was not getting much of a response face-to-face.He said: "Dad created this T-shirt and went out four times a week around the village wearing this QR code on the back."One frosty morning, I woke up and I thought 'You know what? This is actually really sweet - he's not had one person stop him in the village', so I thought I would film him going out the house and just tell everyone online what he's doing."He said the video's reception was "just crazy and it's now on about 2.6 million viewers and counting".
Donations have come in from all over the world, taking Mr Ryan's fundraising total from just £620 to a whopping £16,000 with more than three weeks to go until the big race.His original target was £2,500.
Mr Ryan, who will be running the marathon with his other son, Callum, 24, said: "It's the fact that people are commenting - not just giving money, they're actually saying how wonderful this is - from Canada, from the US. It's phenomenal."We hear a lot of negative press about social media. It's put it in a completely different light; the positivity and support."I've not had one negative message."
Olly Ryan said that, in response to worldwide demand, there would be more videos of Mr Ryan's journey to come, including one of a fundraising event taking place this weekend.Willen Hospice said: "We're reliant on the determination of local supporters, like Darren and Callum, to help raise around £8.7m each year, so our expert teams can continue caring for the community completely free of charge."
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