Red Arrows pilot's widow to run ultra-marathon for charitable trust

Dr Egging also plans to complete a triathlon in August and a 100-mile cycle in September

The widow of a Red Arrows pilot who died in an air crash is set to run an ultra-marathon to mark 10 years since the foundation of his trust.

Dr Emma Egging will run 33 miles along the Grantham Canal on Sunday, starting in Nottingham.

It is the first of 10 challenges she is taking on to mark the anniversary year.

Her husband, Flt Lt Jon Egging, died in August 2011, aged 33, when his Hawk T1 aircraft crashed at the Bournemouth Air Show.

He flew with the Royal Air Force's aerobatics team at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire.

As a result of his death the Jon Egging Trust (JET), was founded to inspire young people.

Flt Lt Jon Egging died in August 2011

JET works with children who "are at risk of falling out of education".

Dr Egging, 42, said the work of the trust was more important than ever.

She said: "Young people across the UK are facing a future that's looking really shaky as a result of the coronavirus.

"It's estimated by that in the pandemic most children will have missed half a year of in-person schooling.

"This learning loss is going to have a huge affect on a generation of children."

The trust has worked with 30,000 children over the last decade.

Dr Egging, the chief executive of the trust, is aiming to increase that to a million by 2031.

During Sunday's ultra-marathon Dr Egging will be joined in stages by former Red Arrows leader Sqn Ldr Martin Pert, ex-Battle of Britain Memorial Flight boss Sqn Ldr Dunc Mason, and JET Patron, Air Vice-Marshal Harv Smyth.

Other challenges she plans to complete this year include a triathlon in August and a 100-mile cycle ride in September.