A MAN ran 5km every day last month in honour of a childhood friend who died as a teenager.

Setting himself a year of challenges, Nick Peers, from Hindley Green, began the year by walking 15,000 steps every day in January followed by 100 press-ups a day in February.

Choosing to fundraise for a charity that means something to him, Nick fundraised for the Motor Neurone Disease Association in January and Bone Cancer Research Trust the following month.

His next challenge was to get out and run 5km for the 31 days in March, and chose Muscular Dystrophy UK as his chosen charity after his childhood friend died from the condition as a teenager.

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Nick said: “When I decided to take on this year of challenges, I wanted to choose charities that mean something to me.

"When I was growing up, a friend of mine had muscular dystrophy, we used to live on the same street and hang around together.

"I remember when he started losing strength in his legs and over time became unable to run around with us and climb trees like he used to.

"Sadly, he died aged just 13. It really stuck with me as I saw the impact the condition had on him as his muscles weakened over time.

"That’s why I wanted to do this challenge to support Muscular Dystrophy UK. Not only to raise some money, but to increase awareness of the condition."

Muscular Dystrophy UK is the country's leading charity for more than 110,000 people in the UK living the condition which gradually causes the muscles to weaken, leading to an increasing level of disability.

MD is a progressive condition and can be life-threatening if it affects the heart muscles. Although there is no cure for MD, treatment can help to manage many of the symptoms.

Nick, 35, added: "A few days of the challenge were tough.

"I had some issues with my knee and did have to resort to walking some of the 5km on a couple of days. But whenever it got hard, I just reminded myself why I was doing it.”

To support Nick’s efforts and fundraising, you can donate to his fundraiser here. Find out more about Muscular Dystrophy UK here.