An enthusiastic young runner who has raised over £5000 for charities is running another race this month and hoping to encourage other youngsters to do the same.
Joseph Hibbert aged 6 from Handforth first decided to start running when his mum Shelley ran the Great North Run in Newcastle in 2013, however Joseph was only 3 years old at the time.
He went on to complete his first race, a 2k mini-run in Manchester, age just 4 years of age and raised over £600 for Royal Manchester Children's Hospital.
He then went on to run 5k before his 5th birthday, raising £3500 for Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. For this he was shortlisted for the Young Hero Award at Wilmslow's first ever Community Awards last year.
Since then he has taken part in lots of other races including Bear Grylls survival race at Tatton Park.
Shelley Hibbert explained "He wanted to raise the money for children's hospitals as he was inspired by a burnt young boy at Manchester's Children's Hospital. Joseph hopes by raising money the children in hospital may one day be able to run with him."
Joseph said "I don't think it's fair some children can't run or play because they are not well. I would like to help them get well!"
This month Joseph is raising money for the Birmingham Children's Hospital by running a 1.5k race in Birmingham on Sunday, 16th October, and has so far raised over £1,200.
Speaking about his training Joseph told me "Training is good but sometimes training is hard as I have to pace myself and not run my fastest at first... sometimes I run so fast I can hear my heart beating!"
If you would like to support Joseph's fundraising efforts donations can be made via his JustGiving page.
