A DARLINGTON factory worker is preparing to run more than 500 miles to raise funds for a North-East hospice.

After more than two years of planning, Marc Ellis will begin his gruelling 505-mile journey from Land’s End to Darlington on Friday (May 1).

The 43-year-old has been training for the challenge for more than 18 months and hopes to raise £20,000 for St Teresa’s Hospice, in Darlington.

“I have never felt so many emotions in my life. It is just amazing how people in the town have really supported me,” he said.

“We have been planning this for two-and-a-half years and now it is finally here. I am going to be a completely different person at the end of this."

Mr Ellis, who is a factory supervisor at Darlington’s Magnet factory, will finish his journey on Saturday, May 30 at noon on High Row, in Darlington.

The company has paid for all his accommodation and Mr Ellis will be calling in at a number of Magnet branches on his journey up north.

Paul Symmons, Magnet’s UK supply chain director, said: “We are really proud of him. When he told me what he was doing, I thought we are not going to be able to do enough to help this guy.”

Having been a keen runner in his school years, Mr Ellis decided to get back into running in 2010 and completed the London Marathon in 2012 to raise awareness for kidney disease.

“I got the running bug and ran several marathons and numerous other races, but I really want to push myself,” he said.

“When I visited the hospice it changed my life. There was a little lad and he drew a picture of a sun with a smiley face.

“That little boy’s picture has got me through some tough times during training."

To donate visit justgiving.com/Marc-Ellis1