Man runs marathon in his corridor to raise money for WaterAid
A banker who normally trots around the globe raising money for wells in drought-struck areas has run a marathon for the charity – jogging almost 8,000 times up and down his corridor at home.
Cesar Mendez, pictured, from Crystal Palace, has already run 15 marathons and raised ÂŁ10,000 for good causes – and had wanted to notch up a total of 100 until lockdown forced him to stop.
And on Sunday he completed an indoor marathon at home, running back and fourth in a 5.3-metre-long corridor in 7,962 laps to raise funds for WaterAid.
He said: “Hand washing is the first line of defence to fight coronavirus, but millions of people around the world still do not have available water sources close to home.
“I have been running around the world to fight dangerous diseases, including the current coronavirus we are currently sadly dealing with.
“I ran inside my flat in the corridor because I didn’t want to run outside for four hours in this current situation and also to challenge myself and to inspire people to stay at home.”
Prince Charles has awarded Mr Mendez the WaterAid President’s Award because of his fundraising efforts for the charity.
He was also invited to Downing Street to meet then Prime Minister Theresa May in 2018 as a thank you for his work with UNICEF.
Mr Mendez wants to use his running to raise awareness of UNICEF’s Sustainable Development Goal for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene which aims to improve global access to clean water and decent sanitation by 2030.
But Mr Mendez doesn’t think of marathons as terrible ordeals. “I’ve been running all my life – it’s natural for me,” he said.
His busy running schedule takes up all his holiday time. “It’s hard to find time to visit my family,” he said. “My mum thinks I’m crazy.”
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