Marathon man Chris Gedge has donated some of the money he raised to the group that helped him start running.

Father-of-three Mr Gedge signed up to parkrun almost four years ago and went on to tackle several half-marathons and completed this year’s London Marathon.

Mr Gedge’s donation helped Great Lines parkrun buy a heart defibrillator, a large first aid kit, walkie talkies and a Great Lines parkrun flag.

The money also went towards training 20 volunteers in emergency first aid and using the defibrillator.

Mr Gedge said: “I think parkrun is great. It’s where my love for running comes from, and now running or volunteering at parkrun is part of my weekend.

“I also enjoy volunteering at Medway’s junior parkrun on a Sunday, seeing our future runners in the making. I really wanted my donation to make a difference.”

He is now a regular runner and volunteer at three parkruns – the Great Lines, Medway Junior and Maidstone. Mr Gedge is the head of stroke services at Medway Community Healthcare, and he raised a total of £2,500 for Medway Cares, the charity arm of MCH, which raises money to support projects that enhance the wellbeing of the users of MCH and their families.

Medway Cares then used some of his money to donate the equipment to parkrun. Great Lines parkrun joint event director Dan Gower-Smith said: “While we sincerely hope that we never have to use our new piece of equipment, it will now enable us to train volunteers to treat instances of sudden cardiac arrest.

“We take the health and safety of those taking part in Great Lines parkrun very seriously and when Medway Cares, via Chris, made their donation, we all agreed the purchase of these items would be of huge benefit to the event.

“All of the new equipment is just great, but the defibrillator is a huge cost, and one that we had started to think of ways to raise the funds in order to afford our one.”