A SCHOOLBOY from Burghclere Down is running the equivalent of a marathon to raise money for Andover Foodbank.

Noah Grainger, nine, began the epic challenge during the November lockdown, as he was missing playing football at Shooters FC.

His efforts exceeded his £100 goal in just 24 hours - and he has now raised over £500 plus a “van load” of food and toiletry donations.

Noah said: “I’ve not been doing my football, so I thought I should do something else before I go back to it.

“I play on Thursday and Saturday, and every day at school, but I can’t do it much at the moment because we get told off for touching each other. I like to do stuff that involves being really active.”

Noah’s mum, Emma, suggested a charity challenge to keep her son motivated throughout the lockdown period.

She said: “If he does one night, he might give up and not want to do it again, so we said, why not do something for charity because then he’ll stick to it.”

Every other evening after school over the last couple of weeks, Noah has run one or two miles with either his mum, or dad, Scott.

He said: “Mum ran a half marathon, so I thought I could challenge myself to do more than mum!

“I feel like my body is working so hard, and sometimes I have to do some stretching because I get really bad stitches.

Noah enjoys giving his parents maths questions to tackle as they jog.

“I can hardly breathe as it is and he’s asking me questions which are out of my league!” Emma said with a laugh.

When asked what keeps him going, Noah said: “I don’t want to let everyone down.

“When I go on my runs, sometimes people will shout from their cars and cheer me on.”

Noah, who’s in Year 5 at Balksbury School, and his younger sister Beau, seven, had been learning about the foodbank at school.

They left a bucket outside their house for food donations. At first, no one put anything in it, but soon it was overflowing.

Emma said: “I put a plea out on the Facebook group, and before we knew it we had a van load!

“There’s a lovely community spirit here. Since the lockdown, we’ve all come together as a whole. It’s a really nice place to live.”

Scott added: “It was convenient for people, and they felt good about themselves as well, they felt they had done their part.”

When asked about whether he wants to keep up the running once he can get back to football and jiu jitsu training, Noah said: “I want to be an Olympic runner!”

His dad asked: “Are you going to be Sir Mo Farah?”, to which Noah quipped: “No, I’ll be Sir Noah Grainger.”

He added: “Some people don’t believe that I’m doing it. But my teacher said everyone give a round of applause for Noah!”

Both he and his sister said they enjoyed sorting the food ready for the bank, although Beau added that dad “just wanted to eat it all!”

Noah says that in the future he would like to have a clear out of his toys and donate some of them to children who are less fortunate than him too.

He hopes to reach his 26-mile goal on Sunday, December 6, and his proud parents have arranged for some of his friends to join him as he crosses the finish line.

Emma said: “One the last day, some of his friends are going to come and do the last two miles with him, to make it a bit more fun.”

She added: “This experience has helped them to understand the role of the foodbank a bit more.”

To donate to Noah’s fundraiser, visit: justgiving.com/crowdfunding/noahsmarathon