Tamworth dad running marathon while pushing incubator

Ted and Bert were born almost 10 weeks early in 2015

A dad is pushing an incubator while running a marathon between hospitals that cared for his premature sons.

Graeme Longstaff hoped to hit the streets with "runcubator" at next week's London Marathon, but it was not permitted in the rules.

Instead, the Tamworth resident plotted a solo run between Heartlands, New Cross and Good Hope hospitals in Birmingham and Wolverhampton.

His twin sons, Ted and Bert, were born almost 10 weeks early in May 2015.

The twins spent weeks in hospitals before they could be brought home

Weeks of hospital visits followed for Mr Longstaff and his wife Raych before Ted and Bert were well enough to be brought home, although doctors found Ted had a brain bleed and was diagnosed with hemiplegia - a form of cerebral palsy that affects half of his body.

Both of the boys, seven, were "super cool", said Mr Longstaff who as well as Bliss, a charity supporting families with premature babies, was also running for Contact, which helps families with disabled children.

Ted and Bert are now seven years old

In total, his route on Friday is about 30 miles, making it longer than a marathon, and retraces the journey his sons made between hospitals as infants.

He will start at Heartlands where they were born, before heading to New Cross where they spent two weeks, before finishing at Good Hope where they were finally discharged.

Mr Longstaff expects his run with the incubator to take about six hours

The incubator weighs up to 40kg but Mr Longstaff says he has not tried training with it because "I just don't want to know how hard it's going to be".

He added: "There's a few hills, but I'm not trying to run it in a super fast time."

Mr Longstaff got the incubator from the manufacturer before it was disposed of

Mr Longstaff is also due to still run the London Marathon on 2 October, but without the incubator.

So far he has raised almost £2,000 for the charities.