A CHARITY marathon runner, who is running 5,000 miles round the coast of Britain, recently passed through North Ayrshire and visited the Isle of Arran – the place which enchanted him as a schoolboy.

Simon Clark ran through the Three Towns last week during his coastal marathon, which he is doing to raise £10,000 for Morayshire-based charity, Ecologia Youth Trust.

Simon set off from his home in Findhorn, Morayshire. And one place that had a particular impact on the 57-year-old, who is originally from Birmingham, was the Isle of Arran.

Simon told the Herald: “My headmistress when I was at school used to come on her holidays to Arran. Because the headmistress was an important person I thought Arran must be a special place, so I’ve always wanted to go to Arran. It’s a very beautiful land.”

Asked why he was doing the mammoth run, Simon replied: “I’m just mad, absolutely bonkers. At Christmas time I was reading a book by Rosie Swale Pope called Just a Little Run Around the World, where she writes about how she just took off and ran.

“Before I even finished it, I decided I wanted to do something similar.”

Simon added: “I carry my tent around in my bag and I rarely know where I’m going to stay.”

Luckily, he was able to sleep in comfort for some of his stay in North Ayrshire.

A friend has relatives in Kilwinning, Robert and Catriona Steel, and the couple offered Simon a bed for a couple of nights.

You can follow Simon’s progress on the Ecologia Youth Trust website at www.ecologia.org.uk/run-around-britain/ or support his challenge here.