SERIAL marathon runner and charity fundraiser Steve Hill has completed his own "Uganda" marathon - and raised more than £750 to help fight the coronavirus pandemic blighting the African communities where it should've been taking place.

The 48-year-old deputy head of St Joseph's Primary School took to the Oldham streets at 5.30am on Saturday morning to run the gruelling distance - the day he would have run the event in Masaka - if it had not been cancelled because of the Covid-19 crisis.

His route took him round the hilly streets of Austerlands, Shaw, and Hollingworth Lake, and in fact Steve exceeded the standard marathon distance of 26.2 miles by running 27 miles.

And he beat the time he set in his recent "Moorside" marathon on April 26 - the day he was due to take part in the London marathon - by 45 minutes, although Steve says the time is unimportant.

Steve said: "Setting off at 5.30am means that it's nice and cool for running. There's not many people around, but as I progressed a few friends and children from school came out to cheer me on, which is really nice.

"I must be getting used to it, because although I can feel my legs a bit, I'm feeling great. I don't have a special diet, but I take the required supplements to help keep me going.

"I was initially aiming to raise £500, but so far I've gone over that by £250, for which I am really grateful."

Steve had been looking forward to returning to Masaka for the third consecutive year until the pandemic scuppered his plan.

In Uganda, just £10 can can feed a family for a week.

In the last 10 years Steve has raised more than £100,000 for charities in Oldham and abroad and in 2019 launched his own "Team Hill Charitable Trust".

Recently, Oldham's singing pilot Stuart Beech joined with him by performing for elderly people in numerous care homes across the town to lift the lockdown gloom.

Steve was due to take part in the Great Norse Run in Iceland at the end of August, but that event too has now been cancelled.

The public can still donate to his fund by visiting www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Steve-Hill-7

Steve's previous adventures have included climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, Mont Blanc, trekking through the Sahara Desert, climbing Mount Elbrus the highest mountain in Europe, trekking through the Arctic and through the jungles of Borneo, climbing Mount Kinabalu, trekking to Mount Everest Base Camp and then completing the Tenzing Hillary Mount Everest Marathon.

Others have been completing the North Pole Marathon, the Petra Desert Marathon, the Amazon Jungle Ultra Marathon – a 230km self-sufficient footrace through the Amazon jungle equivalent to six marathons in five days.

He has completed Mount Toubkal and recently successfully took part in the Arctic Ice Ultra – a 230km self-sufficient footrace through the Arctic wilderness in winter.