AN employee at Wyre Forest company Monosol is set to take on the gruelling Snowdonia Marathon to raise funds for Home-Start Wyre Forest.

Gary Burkes will complete the 26-mile course on October 28, for Monosol's chosen charity.

Gary, who has worked for Monosol for the last seven years, is a member of Black Pear Joggers Club, based in Worcester, and has run more than 40 races - including the Manchester Marathon for St Richard's Hospice, in thanks for the care they gave his mother as she lost her battle with cancer.

Last year, he competed in the London Marathon and the Berlin Marathon for a prostate cancer charity, and is now set to take on the Snowdonia Marathon for Monosol's chosen charity, Home-Start.

He said: "I ran my first marathon back in 2014 for St Richard's Hospice as a thank you after they had taken great care of my mother when she passed away peacefully while in their care, this led to running Manchester Marathon in 2015 followed by London 2016, then later that year Berlin.

"I chose Snowdonia as it was the right time of the year after my last marathon earlier this year in Cheltenham and four ultra runs which were all more than 30 miles.

"As well as this I only found out about halfway through the year that the company would be supporting Home-Start.

"I am looking forward to the challenge as the elevation of this marathon is a lot more than any other marathon I have taken part in.

"I started running races when I felt I needed a new direction for my sporting experiences, as most of the sport I had done previously was all team sports and needed to set myself some more personal goals."

Belinda Darby, Home-Start, manager added: "This is an amazing offer of support by Gary and we are so grateful he is willing to complete this testing course in aid of our scheme.

"We will be wishing him the very best of luck on October 28."

To sponsor Gary, call 01562 825896, or donate by visiting homestartwyreforest.org.uk.