“Run to Remember” raises £100,000 for charities

THEY ran in all weathers. At all times day and night. Two miles a day for 125 days in memory of PC Nicola Hughes.

And the police officers, community support officers and members of police staff who took part in the “Run to Remember” raised an estimated £100,000 for charities.

The marathon event – organised by PC Hughes’s father Bryn and step mother Nat – began on December 1 and ended on April 4 across England and Wales.

Across the country it saw some 1,800 officers and staff sign up for the run.

Just some of them can be seen finishing the run on this page.

Bryn Hughes said: “It has been fantastic. The turnout and determination has been amazing. It has been so overwhelming – at times you cannot describe it. The amount of support we have had has just been overwhelming.

“I wanted to do something positive to remember Nicola by. The biggest motivation is making sure people remember Nicola and remember what sort of person she was.”

Charities to benefit from the Run to Remember and the North Pole Marathon are Care of Police Survivors, the North West Police Benevolent Fund and Victim Support.

Bryn added: “I want to do something that Nicola would have been proud of me for and I also want to raise money for the three charities that have helped us so much during this time and will probably continue to help us for a great deal longer.”

The running was not over for Bryn as after the Run to Remember finished, he took part and completed the North Pole Marathon with his friend Robert Stapleton in freezing conditions. It was completed in 11 hours and 7 minutes.

Greater Manchester Police PCs Hughes, 23, and Fiona Bone, 32, were shot dead while they investigated a suspected burglary in Hattersley, Tameside, in 2012.

Dale Cregan was given a whole-life sentence in June last year for their murders. Cregan was also jailed for the murders of father and son David and Mark Short.