A BENTHAM couple have achieved a marathon milestone after notching up their 100th successful race.

And the event, held for the first time in their home town, helped super runners Nick and Diane Armstrong raise money for a care home which had supported Nick’s mother, Valerie..

The couple had arranged the Bentham marathon in her memory and hoped to raise £1,350 each to go towards the service.

Taking place in May, the event was a huge success with 92 places being filled ahead of the start date. It was also a landmark occasion for Nick and Diane.

Diane said: “We are so pleased that the Bentham marathon was a success and that we have managed to raise over £4,000 for Leonard Cheshire’s Holehird Care Home, in Windermere, in memory of Nick’s Mum.

“The day was perfect from start to finish and we even had participants asking us if we would organise the race again next year.

“Reaching our goal of becoming members of the 100-marathon club really was the icing on top of a great day.”

As well as race entry fees being donated to Holehird, the pair also raised funds through post-marathon sports massages, a raffle, cash donations and proceeds from an official Just Giving page.

Alan Barton, service manager at Holehird Care Home, said: “Holehird and all the service users are extremely grateful for the generous donation which has been presented to us by Diane and Nick.

“The donation will be used for the benefit of our service users here and we would like to say a special thank you to them and to all the people who supported their events to raise funds for our home. T

“The donation will mean that specialist sensory equipment, which is much needed for some of our service users with sensory and physical impairments, can now be purchased for their immediate benefit.”

The official presentation took place on Friday, June 14 at the Leonard Cheshire care home.Valerie Harold had been a resident there for four years following a life-changing head injury.

Valerie, Diane and Nick all founded the Bentham Beagle’s running club. It was with Valerie that Nick and Diane both ran their first marathons.

Some of Valerie’s greatest achievements were walking John O’Groats to Lands End, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro and going to Everest base camp.

Her running achievements included completing some of the marathon world majors in New York, Boston, Berlin and London. She just had Chicago and Tokyo to do. In total she completed 25 marathons as well as several halves, 10ks and 5ks.