A fitness instructor is on the last leg of running a week of sponsored marathons in tribute to a seriously ill family friend.

Joe Benjamin-Guest, 32, of Liddaton, near Brentor, is due to run his seventh and final daily consecutive marathon tomorrow (Thursday) to support friend Steve Hemmings, a retired engineer, who lives at Diptford (between Plymouth and Totnes).

Joe has raised more than £9,000 in sponsorship from family and friends by running non-competitive routes of his own making in West Devon and further afield.

The funds are going tot the Butterfly Thyroid Cancer Trust because Steve has been diagnosed with terminal anaplastic thyroid cancer.

Joe, a fitness instructor, said: “It’s been terrible news about Steve getting this diagnosis of terminal thyroid cancer. He’s a long-term family friend. He’s a lovely man and it’s very sad. He and his wife Sue are ridiculously generous and kind and will do anything for anyone.

“He loves the outdoors and has always been incredibly active and determined. He was always looking for an organised mountain climb or a run. If there was a Dartmoor tor he spotted when we’re out together he just has to climb it - it’s not enough for him to just admire it from afar on a walk.

“He also loved to travel and has been to Uganda to see the gorillas and the Borneo rainforest.”

Steve has already overcome testicular cancer and his recovery prompted him to camp out in various places to see the summer solstice.

Joe said: “Because Steve is a very active person, he also does Parkruns, it’s very fitting for me to run to support the Butterfly Thyroid Cancer Trust. I got the idea because when we heard about Steve, I’d already run the Bath Marathon and then devised my own routes.

“I hope the charity can help lots of people, in Steve’s name. The running has gone so well and I’m really so overcome by the amount of support I’ve hade. I set an original target of £5,000, but that was soon exceeded and nearly doubled so far.

“I have a large WhatsApp group following my progress and I had a big gang of supporters on the first run which was in Cardiff and I’ve had company for some of my runs from family and friends and my girlfriend has been very supportive, even when I get up at 4am for a run.

“Although I haven’t had any injuries and my body hasn’t let me down, my calves are now complaining as I near the finish. As things get harder I think of Steve and what an amazing person he is, to get me through.”

Joe, who lives in Cardiff and trained at Plymouth University, has also run on the Gower Peninsula, Brecon Canals, Bath-to-Bristol cycle route, Lydford Valley, Drake’s Trail and finally Diptford.

To donate to Joe’s JustGiving appeal for the Butterfly Thyroid Cancer Trust see this link: https://tinyurl.com/5n83wsr2