Marathon man's "paws for thought" in Inverness

Hugh Ross, Fiona Poole and Daren Johnson

A MARATHON man running from John O’Groats to Land’s End was given a chance to paws for thought as he passed through Inverness.

Daren Johnson (46), who is running a marathon a day throughout April in a bid to raise £100,000 for the Retired Greyhound Trust and Help for Heroes, was given a boost as he passed through the Highland capital thanks to local members of one of the charities.

Daren is running more than 850 miles from John O’Groats to Land’s End in his Give a Bit Back challenge to generate funds for the two charities.

And when he arrived in Inverness, Hugh Ross and Fiona Poole from the Retired Greyhound Trust, pledged their support when they caught up with him on day five of the challenge. Hugh and Fiona introduced Daren to retired greyhounds Kim, Phoebe and Hector. Greyhound owner Daren, whose dog Kinda Ready won the Greyhound Derby in 2009, has spent his life involved in the racing industry. He had always pledged to raise funds and give something back to the Retired Greyhound Trust, which supports the racing industry to find loving new homes for the dogs at the end of their careers.

The construction firm boss also chose to support Help for Heroes after former employee Rob Long was blinded in a bomb explosion in Afghanistan and was given crucial support by the charity.

Daren said: "It was great to see the dogs and the members of the Retired Greyhound Trust – a real boost for me on day five of what has been such a huge challenge already.

"The Retired Greyhound Trust and its hundreds of volunteers around the country work tirelessly to find good homes for greyhounds at the end of their careers. It has always been so important for us to find loving homes for our dogs when they retire, so we are delighted to be able to support the charity in this challenge."

Hugh Ross, whose branch of the charity homes dogs across Inverness, said: "The trust has more than 700 dogs in kennels across the country who need homes. Daren is doing an amazing thing for our charity and we hope it helps us to find homes for these retired greyhounds and raise some much needed funds."

To help Daren to reach his £100,000 target for the Retired Greyhound Trust and Help for Heroes or to follow his progress, log on to his website to find out more: www.giveabitback.net.