A MAN has raised almost £2000 for completing the Warsaw Marathon after colleagues at his Appleton-based workplace challenged him to take on the gruelling feat.

Matt Whitworth, who works at supply chain company Flextronics, was poised with the task of travelling over 1,000 miles to Poland to take on the biggest running event in the country for the Clatterbridge Cancer Charity.

After joining 10,000 participants on the day, Matt, from Wigan, crossed the finish line at the prestigious 60,000 capacity National Stadium in four hours, 10 minutes and 46 seconds.

Based at the site, on Langford Way, Matt admitted it was a race against time to reach peak fitness levels ahead of the run.

“I went over to our partner site in Poland and during a meeting with some of the team we got onto the subject of marathons," said Matt.

"The general manager asked if I would like to do the Warsaw marathon with him and I accepted his offer, hoping that he’d forget!

“Fast forward a few months and I was back over there and he reminded me of that very conversation. This only gave me seven weeks to train so it was pretty intense from that point on."

Despite initial fears and doubts, it was the charity itself which truly inspired Matt to put himself through the paces and cross the finish line.

“The main motivation for taking on the challenge was to raise money for Clatterbridge," he added.

"So many people are affected by cancer and I saw the marathon as a perfect opportunity to raise more money for a great cause.”