A COLCHESTER youngster has showed incredible fortitude after conquering a half marathon at the ripe old age of eight in aid of charity.

Sporty Kevin Nita has raised just under £600 for Children In Need after completing a 13 miles run on December 9 in two hours and 42 seconds.

The journey started just before 9am with the intention of finishing in the same spot within a couple of hours.

Proud dad Alex said he and Kevin had put in hours of preparation to ensure they were ready to tackle the half marathon.

“We were both excited to do it, building up to the half marathon we had quite a few 10k and 13k runs," he said. 

“We became comfortable doing it - we did one 13k in just over an hour and 10k in an hour dead on.”

Despite rainy conditions on the day, Kevin was not put off by the experience and even went to training the next day.

He has also already expressed an interest in doing future half marathons.

Alex said: “He wants to do it again on a summer day. He wanted to go training again.

 “I asked him how he was and he said okay. He wanted to go to training and seems alright.”

While this was his first half marathon, Kevin is no stranger to striving for sporting success and already counts football and boxing among his repertoire.

Gazette: Preparation - Kevin during his trainingPreparation - Kevin during his training (Image: Alex Nita)

After taking up running, Kevin managed to gradually build up a consistent 10km run without difficulty.

Along the way, Kevin has been supported by his family, including his proud dad Alex who has even created an Instagram page promoting a healthy lifestyle for the young athlete.

When it came to selecting a charitable cause, Alex said it was the reach of Children In Need that contributed to their choice.

Alex added: “I was doing some digging and BBC Children In Need spread out the money to different charities. 

“By raising money for Children In Need, we know the money will spread equally to other charities.”