A FORMER Royal Marine will be taking on a non-stop 100-mile run from Sidmouth to Old Harry Rocks to raise awareness of mental health.

John Easlick, who works as a project manager at BCP Council, will be embarking on the mammoth solo run over the July 13/14 weekend.

He will be running for Icarus, a mental health charity that offers immediate treatment for all uniformed services and veterans.

John, 51, said he was shocked to learn about the high rates of suicide among ex-servicemen and women due to poor mental health and wanted to raise awareness and support for the charity.

He said: “There were 67 veteran suicides and 13 serving suicides that are known for 2018. As of April 2019, there are 21. As a former Royal Marine I felt I needed to take action and raise awareness.

This deeply shocked and disturbed me.

“All those lives destroyed and countless family members and friends left devastated.

“It’s important to me that I spread the word and help those who have kept us and our country safe from suffering mental health in silence.”

John’s training programme has seen him spend hours traversing the various rugged sections of the Jurassic Coast in preparation for his 100-mile challenge next week.

Friends and family have named him ‘Jurassic John’ and support has even come from legendary explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes who said: “Sometimes we need to endure hardships to help those worse off than us. This is a great cause, best of luck John.”

On July 13, John will be leaving from the red cliffs of Sidmouth in Devon before finally arriving along the final stretch of the 630-mile South West Coast Path leading to Old Harry Rocks by Studland.

After the epic 100-mile run, John has plans to run future events and raise further awareness of mental health issues.

Visit gofundme.com/jurassathon100 to support his efforts.