10k hero presents cheque to help young donkey named after stepson who died
Steve Warmsley won the hearts of onlookers when he entered the Skegness 10k but struggled to finish.
Helped along by organisers who ran with him he came in last in 434th place, taking one hour and 34 minutes to complete the route.
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"Before the race I joked to the Mayor of Skegness Coun Trevor Burnham that I would be last and he reassured me, but I was right," joked Steve.
Steve said he had been training for 15 weeks but with other commitments was only able to do it on Sundays.
However, he had trained on a four-mile circuit and felt he was doing well until the day of the race.
"I hadn't realised it was a 10k but training was no problem so thought I'd be OK," he said. "However, two miles in I got stitch and I couldn't shake it off.
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"I just kept going slowly and with the support of the crown and runners who helped me along I finally made the finish line."
Steve said he was determined finish and raise funds for Kye, the hand reared donkey that was rejected by his mum and is growing up thinking he is a dog, because he is named after his stepson who died tragically in a car accident.
Kye belongs to John Nuttall, who runs donkey rides in Skegness and Mablethorpe, and whose family business was threatened after thieves burgled his home, stealing the season's takings.
"My wife and I have been raising money to help John since the burglary and with Kye named after my stepson I wasn't going to give up," said Steve.
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After completing the race, Steve has now been able to present a cheque for £200 to John Nuttall to help him fund care of the donkeys.
Determined to carry on raising funds, Steve - a bus driver for Stagecoach - is carrying on training by walking the three-mile distance from the bus depot to his bus station home.. He said: "I've already been asked to do the Skegness 10k next year so I plan to be ready."