A MONTH of running and cycling has ended with a magnificent seven young West Fife footballers raising £2,900 for the NHS.

Throughout May, Inverkeithing United players Josh Kinnear, Jayden Semple, Liam Smith, Ellis Tooley, Jack MacLaurin, Cole Stirling and Elliot Clarkson took on what they dubbed as a 'COVID-190 Mile Challenge' in support of healthcare workers.

Josh, whose dad, Jamie, helped re-form the club three years ago, and whose mum, Sara McCallum, works at Queen Margaret Hospital, came up with the idea and was quickly joined, firstly by team-mate Jayden, and then the remaining five players.

They each embarked on running or cycling the distance, which combined would amount to 1,330 miles, in aid of NHS Charities Together, and Jamie said: "Initially, when it was Josh and Jayden, they just wanted to raise £500.

"Then the other boys came on board, and we said we'll look to raise £1,000, and I think we even upped it again once they'd met that target to £1,500. They all did fantastically well.

"It was a tough challenge; it was the equivalent of 10 kilometres every day. It was the hottest May that we'd seen in a long time as well so the boys had some really hot days where they were going out running and cycling in great weather.

"There's a few of them that picked up little injuries and niggles along the way but, to their credit, none of them complained. They just got their head down and got on with it every day.

"Every single one of them hit their target – some of them were way over target – so, collectively, they covered something like 1,550 miles throughout the course of May.

"I think everybody was proud of their efforts and I think a lot of them exceeded their own expectations as well."

Jamie added: "They all had their own individual plan, and stuck to their plan, with some encouragement from their mums and dads as well.

"They were all pretty tired when they got to the end of it. We had a group chat set up and I think they were all quite glad it was done when it was done. They all said they were going to take a week or so off before they went back to running and cycling!

"On behalf of the boys, we would like to sincerely thank everyone who made a contribution to their cause because it has been a really difficult time for people, with people being furloughed, people losing their jobs and stuff, so we really appreciate every single pound that was donated.

"As a dad and as a coach, I'm really proud of them all."

The youngsters' justgiving page remains open and, to donate, visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/josh-jayden-190-mile-challenge.