Aaron's ultimate challenge, all in aid of Arena victims

Oldham firefighter Aaron Parmar is embarking on a charity challenge to rival almost all others, all in aid of the We Love Manchester emergency fund.

Aaron, who is based at Oldham fire station on Lees Road, was a serving police officer on the night of the Manchester Arena bomb attack in May of last year, and witnessed first hand the trauma and emotional distress it caused after suicide bomber, Salman Abedi, detonated his device in the foyer of the building shortly after a sold-out concert by American singer Ariana Grande.

Aaron has now pledged to run 22 10k races, one for each of the 22 victims, two of whom were Royton mums Alison Howe and Lisa Lees.

Aaron will then have all 22 medals engraved at the end of his mammoth pursuit, and present them to the families of each of the victims.

He has already completed his first challenge, last Sunday when he ran the seafront-based Southport 10k in a new personal-best time of 46 minutes, 56 seconds.

That race was dedicated to 32-year-old Arena victim Philip Tron, whose family Aaron had most connection with in terms of support straight after the attack.

Aaron told the Chronicle: "I just wanted to give something back and do something for the families, just to let them know that they are all still very much in our thoughts.

"I thought of doing these runs myself. I enjoy running and I tend to use them to try and clear my head when I've maybe had a bad day at work or whatever.

"Ideally I wanted to do a big run, like a marathon maybe, but I don't think my knee would hold up to that.

"I'd love to have done 22 marathons, but that would probably lead to me being off work for a while!

"Rather than do just one race, though, I wanted to do 22 so that I can dedicate one to each of the victims. Hopefully it'll be a little bit more personal to the families.

"I really pushed myself in that first race, but I secured a PB so we'll see. I know how far I can push myself."

Aaron has so far raised almost £800 on his JustGiving page as he tries to reach out to as many people as possible for support.

His initial target was £1,000, but the 'overwhelming' reaction to his epic challenge means he ought to smash that figure very soon.

You can donate to: www.JustGiving.com/fundraising/AaronleeGMFRS

Aaron's next run is this Sunday's Littleborough 10k.

He aims to complete all 22 10k runs 'as soon as he can', although he has been toying with the idea of completing the final race as close as possible to the May second anniversary in 2019.

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