120 marathons in 120 days: Harrogate man completes epic trek

A Harrogate man crossed the finish line today after completing a mammoth challenge of 120 marathons in 120 days.

Graham Wilson, a retired police constable, found well-earned relief at Harrogate sports bar The Den after 3,180 miles.

Before setting off, Graham had raised more than £40,000 for 15 charities, including Macmillan Cancer Support, British Heart Foundation, Saint Michael’s Hospice and Harrogate Homeless Project.

He hopes to reach his goal of £50,000.

Speaking after he crossed the line, he said:

“I’m emotional, it’s been three years of hard work and training and it’s just sort of come to an end suddenly. We’ve had a terrific journey all over the UK and the welcome in Harrogate was just amazing.”

Check out our Facebook live to see him crossing the line.

Graham Wilson and his wife Marion

Graham has walked 26 miles every day for four months, with his wife Marion and dog Tilly supporting him from the sidelines.

The pandemic delayed his challenge by 15 months and meant he couldn’t stick to his original plan of including marathons in Europe.

He added:

“I retired from the police and needed something to do. We’ve always been in to long-distance walking so we set a map of where we wanted to go.

“Initially we should have been going to Europe for 44 days and doing extra but we couldn’t. We made the best of a bad situation and came up with a plan.

“The first and last was always going to be in Harrogate.”

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Graham was a police officer for nearly 30 years and raised funds for charities before retiring.

Bex Moorhouse, a former colleague and Harrogate police officer, who was there to support him today, said:

“We all just feel super proud of him. He’s just so humble, to speak to him about what he’s done it’s just like he hasn’t done anything but it’s huge. This morning he was smiley Graham as usual and we are all just super proud of him for keeping going.

“He’s said some mornings Marion has had to kick him out of bed but he’s doing it for the charities and that’s keeping him going.”

To donate to the challenge click here.