Chelsea football stars, including captain John Terry, have been supporting a man who has run the equivalent of 36 marathons to raise funds for a cancer charity.

Ben Edwards has run at least two miles every day this year to support The Royal Mardsen Cancer Charity and to honour the memory of his friend, Greg Thomson, who lost his battle with cancer in February.

Ben, from Cobham, said: "When Greg was ill I wanted to do something for The Royal Marsden because every time I visited him I was amazed by how hard the doctors and nurses work and how they care so much for all the patients.

"Losing Greg made me aware that cancer targets people of any age and it is affecting everyone.

"Most people either know someone who has suffered or have suffered themselves."

The PE teacher and father-of-two has run 940 miles this year and aims to reach 1,000 miles by New Year’s Eve.

Your Local Guardian:

Ben with friends and family in Bushy Park

During the year, more than 400 people have joined Ben on his runs, including Olympic gold medalists Georgie Twigg and Giselle Ansley, Chelsea FC captain John Terry, teammates Gary Cahill and Asmir Begovic, Harlequins scrum-half Karl Dickson, plus football manager and pundit Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

Ben’s final run will be on New Year’s Eve, starting at 11.30am at the Tilt in Cobham and finishing up at, appropriately, the Runner pub.

Ben’s family and friends are inviting everyone to join him on the final run, either in person or virtually by posting their pictures to Ben’s Facebook page.

Donate here to Ben’s fund for fighting cancer