Zac, 13, raises more than £2,000 for Shrewsbury food hub through virtual challenge

Zac Wasteney, from Kinnerley, wanted to find a way of combining his fitness training with giving back to his local community. He decided that the best way he could do this would be to complete a sponsored – and virtual – "John O'Groats to Land's End", a mammoth 1,400km travelled by running and cycling around Shropshire.

The gruelling challenge started just after New Year and has been carried out over evenings and weekends. He has so far raised £2,250 for Shrewsbury Food Hub in sponsorship and hopes that the final figure will be in excess of £3,000.

He completed this outstanding feat in style by running a half marathon with an extra personal meaning. The distance of over 21km took him from the entrance of his current school Packwood Haugh in Ruyton XI Towns to the gates of Shrewsbury School where he starts as a pupil in September and is hoping to be accepted as an elite sports scholar.

Zac was met at the finish line by Ali Thomas, co-founder of Shrewsbury Food Hub and Sam Griffiths, housemaster and running coach at Shrewsbury School.

The weather was unfortunately very wet, but all were in high spirits as Zac crossed the line with running partner Ali Hope, completing the distance in just over 1 hour 40 minutes.

Generous

Zac said: "It's been a lot of hard work to complete this challenge, especially the half marathon at the end, but when I see how generous everyone has been, it makes it all worth it.

"The Food Hub is an amazing charity that does great work and I want to thank everyone who has sponsored me."

Peter Middleton, deputy head at Shrewsbury School, said: "Congratulations from Shrewsbury School to Zac on his astonishing achievement! Being the oldest cross-country club in the world, with the origins of organised cross-country running at the school traced back to 1819, it is a great privilege to welcome Zac through our gates as he completes his fantastic virtual John O’Groats to Land’s End.

“Well done Zac for completing this mammoth distance and for raising a lot of money for Shrewsbury Food Hub."

Katy Anderson, co-founder of Shrewsbury Food Hub, said it was an amazing achievement.

"We’re so impressed by Zac’s efforts and look forward to cheering him at the finishing line of his final half marathon as he completes his 1,400 km journey. We’re so grateful to him and everyone who has sponsored him," she said.

"We rely on donations to keep our food rescue operation going. Last year we stopped more than 140 tonnes of good food from going to waste and shared it with community groups – that’s enough for 330,000 meals. Getting this food into good use protects the environment, helps local people eat better and save money, and saves their partner groups 30 per cent of their food budget."

The fundraising page is still open and donations are still welcome. Visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/zac-wasteney to donate.