An Almondbury runner has completed the incredible feat of running eight marathons in eight days and is now doing another to round the challenge off.
Adriano Picano, 45, did the runs in mid-April and then the London Marathon which in all has raised over £14,000 so far for the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) – massively above his original target of £8,000.
He now has one fundraiser left, the Leeds Marathon on Sunday, May 10, which has special significance as Adriano is originally from Leeds and former Leeds Rhinos and England star Rob Burrow, who lost his life to MND, has been a big inspiration for him.
Adriano said: “I’m running the Leeds one more out of sentiment as it’s my home city and to also close the challenge off.’’
Adriano is a member of the BigBox Leisure Club in Waterloo, Huddersfield, and lifts weights there every morning between 5am and 6am with good friend David Shaw before running on the treadmill or on the streets for a couple of hours before work. BigBox have been a major support for his multi marathon fundraising.
Adriano said: “I just wanted to say a big thank you to all the staff at BigBox. The support and visibility from the BigBox team has helped make this challenge a huge success.
“Big thanks in particular to Danny Philips, Chris Derek, Jake Robshaw and Lev Dalbal who have given up their time to support me with gym sessions and media.
“Danny also gave up his own time on a weekend to help lead a community run which had 70 people attend at 6am on a wet Saturday.’’
Two of Adriano’s friends from the gym, Jake Healey and Tom Summers, both ran marathons with him during the eight run challenge. Jake did three and Tom did two.
Adriano has been very keen to help the charity as it not only helps sufferers from the disease but also their families too.
Adriano’s mum, Alicia Picano, took her own life when Adriano was just 16 and he feels that if more charities had been more visible at the time then she may have been helped with her mental health which suffered badly after she had a stillbirth in the early 1990s.
Adriano said: “These days there is a lot more understanding about mental health and the need to support families when someone has been diagnosed with a condition such as motor neurone disease which has no cure.”
Adriano Picano with his wife Martine
He called his marathons challenge 8 in 8 for a M8te and explained: “For those living with these diseases it’s devastating to go from independence to needing help for even the most basic tasks.
MNDA works tirelessly to support those affected and their families, but there’s another side – the loved ones, the m8tes.
These are the families providing care day after day, watching someone they love suffer while trying to hold on to normal life.
“They are facing other family members, smiling for the children, going to bed at night not knowing how the bills will be paid or simply feeling lonely and powerless.
“These are the m8tes I’m running for. Not only to honour those we’ve lost, but to let every carer know that we are here for you.”
In terms of the eight marathons he has completed Adriano did one on a treadmill at BigBox. The other marathons were in Sheffield, Barnsley and Wakefield as well as routes in Huddersfield.
Adriano said: “The treadmill was the toughest challenge mentally as it took more than four hours.
“The last one I did, the Manchester Marathon, was also extremely tough as I was so fatigued by then but I think my heart managed to get me through it.
“The whole experience has been amazing and I’d like to thank everyone who supported me with the fundraising.’’
Adriano, who works in IT for the Lloyds Banking Group, is married to Martine and has two stepsons, 26-year-old Kaylem and 21-year-old Corey.
To support Adriano go to his JustGiving fundraising page by clicking here.
You can also follow his Instagram @adrianos_8in8
Written by ANDY HIRST who runs his own Yorkshire freelance journalism agency AH! PR (https://ah-pr.com/) specialising in press releases, blogging, website content, copywriting and ghost-writing autobiographies.
