FROM Basingstoke to Manchester with a bone in hand, runners raised more than £2,000 for charity.

As part of a father’s quest to raise awareness of a rare bone disease his son was diagnosed with, 30 runners descended on Asda, in Brighton Hill, with charity buckets in hand to run the distance over 24 hours on a treadmill.

The run started at 3pm on Friday, 9 March by event organiser Steven Edney, who has become an advocate for the Brittle Bone Society after his son Max, five, was diagnosed with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), better known as brittle bone disease.

Runners took it in shifts to travel the equivalent distance from Basingstoke to Manchester on the treadmill with a bone acting as a relay baton which was passed between runners.

Along with Mr Edney, runners from the Fitness Flex centre in Brighton Hill also gave up their time to help raise £2,113.96 for the Brittle Bone Society.

The 49-year-old said: “I was absolutely flabbergasted by the amount that was raised.

“I honestly thought if we could raise around £500 from the event that would be a great result, but when we managed to collect around £230 in the first two-and-a-half hours so I thought maybe a bit higher but nowhere near what we have done.”

Mayor and mayoress of Basingstoke and Deane, Councillors Paul Frankum and Jane Frankum officially got the run under way with Mr Edney on the treadmill and were also on hand to cheer him over the closing moment.

In total Mr Edney did five stints on the treadmill covering a distance of 20km.

He added: “I only managed to get about two hours sleep in 36 hours and my legs were a bit wobbly and stiff on Sunday. But it was all worth it to see the comradery of everyone running, hearing everyone’s stories and their support was incredible.”

The run was part of Mr Edney’s 12 events in 12 months for the charity will culminate with the Three Peaks Challenge in June when he turns 50.

So far he has raised more than £15,000 for Brittle Bone Society.

To support Mr Edney visit justgiving.com/fundraising/steven-edney.