Oscar to run half-marathon for the NHS...in his Barton Seagrave back garden

A six-year-old Barton Seagrave boy is attempting to run a half-marathon - by completing almost 1,000 laps of his back garden.

Oscar Overson usually completes the junior park run at Wicksteed Park but, because of the coronavirus lockdown, his sporting activities have been limited.

He saw a story about Scottish athlete James Campbell running a marathon in his garden to raise money for the NHS and decided he wanted to do it himself.

Mum Vikki, 41, said: "Oscar saw it and said 'can I do that?' and the first thought was to say 'no that's crazy' but then we thought about it and measured the garden and settled on a half-marathon.

"He usually does the junior Parkrun at Wicksteed Park and is missing his football and cricket, so he's definitely looking for some exercise.

"He is a very determined little boy and is very committed so won't stop until he's finished."

The Barton Seagrave Primary School pupil is currently 4km in and is showing no signs of tiring so far.

He is doing about 90 laps of the 22m circuit each day and will need to complete 950 laps in total to finish the half-marathon, which he is aiming to do over 10 days.

So far he has already raise more than £200 online which will be split between Kettering General Hospital and the national NHS charity in response to coronavirus to help frontline staff.

Project manager Vikki added: "We are all very proud of him."

To donate to Oscar's cause, visit the fundraising page here.

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