A DARLINGTON sales executive won the support of singing and sporting legends in his marathon charity bid.

Tony Allen set himself the challenge of running a marathon every day for a month to raise £10,000 for a North-East hospice.

Throughout December, Mr Allen – who works at SG Petch in Darlington – put on his running shoes every day, including Christmas Day.

His efforts attracted the attention of sporting legend Paula Radcliffe and The Corrs drummer Caroline Corr, who sent him a video message.

With the support of friends, family and the odd celebrity, Mr Allen – who ran 817 miles - quickly hit his target.

The 52-year-old dad of two has donated the proceeds to St Benedict’s Hospice in Ryhope, the facility that gave palliative care to his late mother.

He said: “You never know how interested people are going to be but so many people got behind it - particularly with me running at night and in such awful weather.

“Christmas is a really expensive time so I felt really honoured people gave so much.”

Catrina Flynn, fundraising manager at St Benedict’s Hospice, said: “We were never in doubt that Tony would succeed because he’s so dedicated to running and was determined to raise as much as he could for the hospice.

“He was an inspiration to many as he did his amazing nightly runs. We’re very grateful for his support.”