North Tyneside man to run Tyne and Wear Metro network

Metro customer service managers Louise Smith and Val Dejong with Ben Cook

A 30-year-old man will run the entire length of the Tyne and Wear Metro in a bid to raise money for charity.

Ben Cook will follow the 63-mile (101km) network, travelling station to station along the green and yellow routes over the August Bank Holiday.

Metro operator Nexus said it was aware of the "unique challenge" and "wished him well with it".

Mr Cook, from West Moor, North Tyneside, said he was inspired by similar challenges attempted in London.

However, he will not be running on the tracks, rather he will rely on adjacent paths and roads.

He will cover 27 miles (43km) as he navigates the green route, from South Hylton to Newcastle Airport via Sunderland, on day one of the challenge.

On the second day, he will cover 36 miles (58km) on the yellow route, running from South Shields to St James via the North Tyneside coast.

'A huge test of fitness'

"It's a lot further than it looks," he said.

"It's 63 miles along the network route and I'm expecting it to be tough as it's two days of back-to-back running."

Mr Cook is raising funds for The Running Charity, which helps 16 to 25-year-olds who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, and said it was "close to his heart".

"A friend of mine in London is doing a similar challenge running the length of all 11 Tube lines, and it made me think about doing something along the lines of the Metro.

"I'd never heard of anyone do that here before, so I thought that I'd give it a go."

Lynne Dickinson, head of station delivery at Nexus, said it was a "fantastic fundraising challenge".

She said: "It will raise vital funds to help homeless young people.

"To run the whole length of our yellow and green lines over two consecutive days is a huge test of fitness and endurance."