Four members of Rotherham United Football Club run for 24 hours in honour of Sheffield toddler Ezra Goodjohn

After a sudden illness, 18-month-old Ezra Goodjohn of Stannington died on December 28 2019. At the time, an online donation page was set up to raise funds for his family.

Over £10,000 has already been raised with more donations still coming in.

Part of that figure is thanks to the medical and sports science department of Rotherham United FC, made up of Ross Burbeary, Mark Hoy, Adam Pulford and Matt Lowndes, who took on a challenge to run as much as they could in 24 hours.

Between them, they ran a total of 378km which is the equivalent of running from Sheffield to Brighton.

Ross Burbeary, who ran 106km of the combined distance, which the equivalent of over two marathons, said: “The money from the GoFundMe was just to cover funeral costs originally, as sad as it is, but the money just kept getting pumped in and pumped in.

“We wanted to use running as a way of raising money for awareness and for charities, it is a way of keeping fit, and the players at Rotherham are unbelievably generous and always support us – they are always putting their hand in their pocket.

The four colleagues turned the gym into a nighttime barracks, with each taking turns to run through Rotherham throughout the day and night, starting at 3.30pm on January 14.

Ross decided to complete his challenge in bursts of half marathons.

He said: “Running through Rotherham at 3am, doing a half marathon, it is actually quite peaceful.

“As the time went on I got slower and slower and reduced to a walk by the last one because my feet were just battered.

“I said to my staff when you drive through Rotherham, you will remember the times you struggled going down a certain road but it will give you strength knowing that you did something incredible for someone else.’”

You can support the campaign by donating online at uk.gofundme.com/f/remember-ezra.