A CUMBRIAN man is going to cycle from Whitehaven to Tynemouth and run a half-marathon in the same day.

Dean Morgan, from Whitehaven, will cycle the 140-mile-long Coast to Coast route before taking part in the Great North Run.

The 37-year-old, who works as a team leader at Sellafield, is raising money for Team Evie, a charity which supports sick children and their families, and Hospice at Home for West Cumbria.

He was inspired by his uncle, Martin Ennis, known as Chucky, who passed away earlier this year after a battle with bowel cancer.

Mr Morgan said: "I managed to do the Coast to Coast bike ride with him three times. He was a keen cyclist.

"He’d done the Great North Run himself about four or five times.

"I wanted to do something in his memory so thought 'how’s about doing the Coast to Coast and the Great North Run in a day?'''

Dean will leave Whitehaven in the early hours of Sunday, September 12. He hopes to arrive at Tynemouth for 8am, before taking starting the half-marathon in Newcastle.

He has managed to raise over £2,000 so far.

"I’m absolutely delighted, it’s brilliant.

"My target was £1,000. I hit that in probably a week or so. People have been so generous.

"Now that I have over £2,000, I’m starting to think I could raise over £2,500."

Dean is a keen cycler, having done several long cycles , including the Coast to Coast previously.

However, he is much less experienced at running.

"I’ve never been a great runner, I used to play rugby.

"When I finished playing rugby I started cycling.

"But I’ve only really got into the running in the past six months since I decided to do this challenge and I’ve ran two half marathons since.

"I’ve been doing the running but I’ve mainly been getting my body used to getting off the bike and then running.

"I’ve done a lot of 60-mile cycles and then come back and do an eight mile run.

"That’s been really tough.

"Getting off the bike and then going running is different."

Despite his inexperience, he is feeling confident: "I feel quite good, I think I’ve done enough training.

"I think it’s now easing it off a bit and getting rest.

"I’m a bit apprehensive what it’s going to be like cycling during the night.

"It’ll be quite weird really.

"Rest is going to play a massive part in the week leading up to it."

You can donate to Dean Morgan's fundraiser via this link: https://gofund.me/aa2af30b