A DETERMINED fundraiser ran 145 miles in five days for a charity, despite having two dodgy knees.

Steve Bilton, 31, suffered agonising pain to run not one, but five marathons, in aid of the children’s hospital which saved the life of his friend’s son.

Mr Bilton was joined by four other runners during the coast to coast challenge, including TV presenter Ben Shephard, 35, which saw them race from Whitehaven in Cumbria to Tynemouth in Newcastle.

Mr Bilton who works for Billericay-based Ian Brown Financial Planning, said he was inspired to put on his trainers by his friend’s one-year-old son, Sebastian.

The little boy’s dad Ivan Hollingsworth used to live in Ramsden Heath before moving to Newcastle, and is an old pal of Mr Bilton’s.

Seb was born with a hole in his heart and had to go through live saving heart surgery when he was only four months old.

His mum and dad were so pleased with the way the Freeman Hospital, in Newcastle, looked after their son, they decided to try to pay back some of the money and set themselves a fundraising target of £120,000.

They are also raising money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

To achieve this they planned the epic running challenge and roped in Mr Hollingsworth’s childhood friend and former GMTV presenter, Ben Shephard, who lives in Epping.

So far, the runners have raised £50,000.

Mr Bilton explained what motivated him to finish the challenge.

He said: “I don’t usually run because I’ve had surgery on both my knees, and I was originally meant to cycle half of the route.

“But I got carried away and ran most of it in the end.

“We all had some very dark moments where you hit the wall, but what got us through was humour and Seb who travelled every mile with us in one of the support vehicles.”

Despite limping in agony for the final day, Mr Bilton, who lives in Great Baddow, said he enjoyed every minute of the challenge.

He said: “Each morning was comical, to see these five guys get out of bed, barely able to walk knowing we had another 30 odd miles to do, but once we got going the legs loosened up and the painkillers kicked in.

“You just had to find a way to manage the aches and pains.

“It was the best experience of my life without a doubt and I can’t wait to do it again next year.

To donate to the cause, visit: www.seb4chuf.org.uk