A Lanarkshire man has set himself a mammoth challenge this month of running 400 miles for Movember.
Derek Whiteford says he wanted to do something a bit different as he aims to raise money and awareness for causes close to his heart.
The 28-year-old from Blantyre is more than halfway through the enduring feat and has already smashed his fundraising target of £400 - a pound for every mile he runs.
And he is dedicating his efforts to cancer and men's mental health charities after sadly losing two of his friends to the illnesses in recent years.
Derek told Lanarkshire Live : "I'm averaging about 13 to 14 miles per day so far. I wasn't always an avid runner. During lockdown it was one of the hobbies I picked up. I would run to Hamilton and towards Strathclyde Park and really just see how long I could go for.
"And the last few months I started running a bit more. Then I joined my friend in running the Great Scottish Run in October.
"I had been growing a moustache and people were asking if it was for Movember but it wasn't, so I thought maybe I should actually do something for Movember instead.
"I've no idea where the 400 miles came from, but it was at least quite challenging."
"The route varies, there's one that goes from Blantyre to Hamilton to Strathclyde Park, then towards Bothwell and Uddingston which is about 13 or 14 miles. Then there's a 15-mile one from Blantyre to Cambuslang and Rutherglen, then cross over at Bridgeton before coming back via London Road.
"Sometimes it will just be laps round Strathclyde Park so it changes just to keep it a bit more interesting".
Running in memory of his two late friends, Derek continued: "A lot of my friends that I went to school with have been affected by the challenges that Movember tries to cover.
"One of the things is mental health and suicide prevention. I had a friend in school who took his own life a few years ago, and more recently a good friend of ours died from cancer in 2020. We lost him within six weeks of a diagnosis."
Throughout his Movember campaign, Derek wants to raise awareness of these conditions and is sending a strong message out to locals.
He explained: "In terms of the mental health side of things, it's to get people to speak more and open up, especially after the lockdowns had quite a drastic effect of people's mental health.
"And with things like prostate and testicular cancer I feel like there is still a bit of a stigma with that and men getting things checked out. As I said, with any cancer it can happen very quickly, so I would encourage anyone that if something doesn't feel right, rather than put it off, speak to people and communicate more about these things."
Derek's total cash sum is currently sitting at £401 with more donations expected to come in during the final two weeks.
He has thanked everyone who has supported him on his way, adding: "I'm really surprised, I've raised quite a lot really quickly so I'm very pleased with how it's went.
"I've also had a lot of support. People have been coming up to ask what I'm doing when I'm out running, and I've even had people coming out to join me on the run for a few miles also."
You can donate to Derek's fundraiser here.
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