RUNNING the London Marathon is one thing, but Farnham man Ian Carley and the Sgt Steppers Homeless Hearts Club Band have set themselves another challenge.

The group are going to be running, singing and playing the guitar for the whole 26.2 miles, with the aim of raising £10,000 to be split between Aldershot-based homeless charity Step by Step and national charity Crisis.

Ian said: “Back in early 2017 I set myself a challenge for my 50th birthday in February this year. I wanted to combine my lifelong passions of running, music and helping people and so came up with the idea to run the London Marathon while playing guitar and singing the full 26.2 miles.”

Running alongside Ian (as Paul McCartney) will be his fellow Blackwater Valley club runners; Cyra Parkes as Ringo, Alex Radford as John and Linda Radford as George.

After a kind donation by Yamaha and Roland of a small ‘travel’ guitar and lightweight amplifier which can be carried in a rucksack, Ian is now fully portable and sings into a headset microphone.

The group have got 25 songs which will have to be repeated around four times during the six-hour marathon. As well as playing a lot of Beatles songs, they also perform old classics and modern pop.

He continued: “I was a little concerned our mobile ‘performance’ would annoy other runners at events but it’s quite the opposite and we get crowds surrounding us singing along, helping motivate and encourage the slower runners.”

They have already raised £4,500 and have taken part in a number of local 10K’s and park runs as part of their training.

• People can donate at www.justgiving.com/teams/BUSK, or for more information visit www.facebook.com/BUSK68.