TWO friends plan to run five marathons over 30 days to raise money in memory of a Bournemouth businessman who died from coronavirus.

Richard Place, the boss of Kinson Tyres in Bournemouth, died last month while waiting for a transplant to treat bone marrow cancer.

Now Jason Manns and Darren Colegate, friends of Mr Place's nephew, have launched an appeal to raise £1,000 for ward 11 at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital, where Mr Place was treated for cancer.

Jason, 47, a dry-liner, and kitchen fitter Darren, 45, are both from Ensbury Park and they plan to run 7k every day for 30 days to raise the money.

The total distance will be 130 miles, the equivalent of five marathons, and they started the challenge yesterday(Sunday May 10).

They are both keen runners who regularly take part in park runs in the area.

Jason said: "Richard's nephew is a friend of ours and we thought it would be nice to raise some money for the hospital."

Mr Place, 52, lived at The Grove in Christchurch where his wife and children have erected a banner which says: "Thanks you NHS. RIP dad."

Richard was waiting for a transplant and a ten out of ten match had been found.

He had been in and out of hospital because his immune system was so weak and he contracted coronavirus. He died at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital on Saturday April 18.

Speaking to the Daily Echo after his death, Richard's wife, Alison, said: "We thought everything would go forward and he would get his match. He would have his operation and be fine. He has been in and out of hospital because he has no immune system.

"He went in on March 10 with flu-like virus, it wasn’t coronavirus, but he didn’t seem to recover. He was tested three times for coronavirus and the third one said he had it.

"We were married 25 years and we would have had another 25 years at least."

Alison and their two children, Molly and Harry, 23 and 21, weren’t able to visit Richard while he was in hospital due to the restrictions.

The family has already raised nearly £3,000 for ward 11 and Jason and Darren hope to add to the total.

To support Jason and Darren's efforts, go to justgiving.com/fundraising/jasondarrenrun?utm_campaign=eua-share-facebook&utm_content=JasonDarrenRun&utm_medium=shares-from-eua&utm_source=facebook