A HEADTEACHER from Kidderminster is preparing to run a marathon on a treadmill in his garage after recovering from coronavirus.

Paul Hyde, who lives in Spennells, was set to take part in the London Marathon this Sunday, however the event was cancelled due to the pandemic.

But inspired by war veteran Captain Tom Moore, who raised more than £27m by completing 100 laps of his garden, Paul has pledged to complete the 26-mile challenge at home.

The 47-year-old father-of-two, who works as a head teacher in Birmingham, said: “I already had it in the back of my mind that I might do it, but then I saw what Captain Tom has achieved. The weekend he topped £10m I just thought you know what I’m going to do this.”

Kidderminster Shuttle:

Paul normally trains with Kidderminster and Stourport Athletics Club and the London event was set to be his 30th marathon.

“It was my first time qualifying in London as a good for age entry,” said Paul. “I qualified having run three hours and two minutes in Manchester the year before. I was aiming to get under three hours, but I don’t think that will happen now.”

Paul’s training was put on hold after he came down with coronavirus symptoms before the school closures in March.

He said: “I’m a headteacher myself so I was fairly exposed. I came down with a temperature at work on the Friday and that continued for about 10 days.

“A cough started after three or four days and I had to call 111 in the second week due to breathing problems – I was totally short of breath and couldn’t get my breath back.

“They advised me to stay at home and carry on taking paracetamol. I wasn’t actually tested. I started to feel better at the end of March.”

Paul is now busy training for his at-home marathon this Sunday, and has already raised £850 for NHS Charities Together.

He said: “I haven’t been able to train outdoors because I have to save my one outing a day to walk the dog, so I’ve been getting back into the treadmill. My neighbours must wonder what’s going on.

“If I can complete it in under three hours and 15 minutes then great, but I’ll just be glad to finish at all if I’m honest. I’m still not back to absolute top fitness.

“Running a marathon on a treadmill, there are a lot of challenges – obviously there’s the boredom factor, and one I’m noticing more than anything is the temperature because there’s no air flow in there.

“I’ll have at least a couple of fans going and will get up quite early to do it before it gets warm.”

To donate to Paul's fundraising page, go to justgiving.com/fundraising/paul-hyde15.