Ben Stokes To Run His Maiden Marathon To Raise Funds In Battle Against COVID-19

The 28-year-old all-rounder who admitted that the longest he had ever run was 8 km, will be running a half marathon near his home.

Photo: AFP

England cricketer Ben Stokes whose stellar all-round exploits on the green turf have been instrumental in his nation's 2019 World Cup winning feat will step up his contribution towards battling the COVID-19 pandemic by running his maiden marathon on Tuesday for a humanitarian cause. Stokes will put on his running shoes and participate in the marathon to raise funds for the National Health Services (NHS) Charities Together and national children's cricket charity Chance to Shine. The 28-year-old all-rounder who admitted that the longest he had ever run was 8 km, will be running a half marathon near his home. "A half marathon is always been something that I've thought about doing a but never really got around to overdoing it. Obviously we have been in lockdown so I thought what a great option to go out and if I'm going to do it I might as well try and raise some funds for a good cause," Stokes said in an Instagram video. Stokes got inspired by the efforts of three men who ran full marathons in their back gardens over the weekend. "I will be hopefully inspiring people to make some donations towards the Cricket Garden Marathon, I'm just trying to add some more funds to what they've managed to do for the great cause," said Stokes. "I've done absolutely no training, the longest distance that I've ever run is 8 kilometres. So, I don't even know I'm going to be able to complete it but hopefully, I can," he added. The left-handed Stokes on April 8 became the first English cricketer since 2005 to be named as Wisden's Leading Cricketer in the World. In 2005, Andrew Flintoff was named as Wisden's Leading Cricketer of the Year. The year 2019 proved as an instrumental year for Stokes as he played a key role in England's first 50-over World Cup win and then he went on to play a memorable inning against Australia during the third Ashes at Headingley. Also, the English all-rounder was named as ICC's cricketer of the year in January 2020.