AFTER both his son and daughter were diagnosed with autism, a father has decided to put himself through his paces to raise awareness of the condition.

Ben Callow has set himself the task of completing 10 marathons in 10 days, culminating at next year’s London Marathon.

As an avid runner and a member of the Chineham Park Running Club, Mr Callow wanted to undertake the challenge to not just raise awareness of autism but also debunk stigmas which surround it.

Mr Callow’s son Danyl was diagnosed as autistic when he was three-years-old, and now his sister Evie has received the same diagnosis at the same age.

“When my son was diagnosed I knew absolutely nothing about autism,” the 37-year-old told The Gazette.

“But having lived through it with Danyl, I have learnt a lot more about it and I have found that people don’t seem to understand it and are just scared about it.

“When he was diagnosed I started doing runs to raise awareness among friends and family, now this time around with Evie I just wanted to go bigger and spread the message more.”

With the help of his friends at the Chineham Park Running Club, Mr Callow will mark out 10 different marathon routes before partaking in the London Marathon on April 28, 2019.

All the runs except the London Marathon will be run locally.

As well as raising awareness of Autism, Mr Callow will also be raising money for the National Autistic Society.

After Evie was diagnosed, it was not the news Mr Callow had wanted, however he felt he had better understanding.

He added: “With autism you need to know your children inside out and that is something that I have done.”

To keep up-to-date with Mr Callow’s progress and support him in his quest, visit facebook.com/Ben10in10-135763307283775.