YOUNGSTERS in Cam gave up a day of their half term to run a marathon on a treadmill in a supermarket, in aid of their school.

The boys, who are all pupils at Cam Hopton Primary School took on the challenge in Tescos superstore on Cam High Street this morning, starting at 9.30am.

Rory Blackburn, 9, Oscar Newman, 7, Finley Hocking, 8, Charlie Howard, 10, and Jacob Howard, 7, decided to do a ‘treadmill-a-thon’ to raise money to support a recent fundraising activity launched by the Cam Hopton Parent Teacher Association (PTA) called ‘Grow a £1’.

Rory, who is a keen runner, came up with the idea.

“He raised over £300 two years ago for the school by running 10k, so I guess the idea of a sponsored run was familiar to him,” said his mum, Georgina Blackburn.

Taking it in turns, and with the help of Ryan Oram, 9 and Sam Wardle, 9 who popped in to lend their support, the boys completed the run in just over five hours.

They raised over £300 in store this morning and donations can still be made in Cam Tescos.

They can be made online too via: justgiving.com/crowdfunding/georgina-blackburn

Patrick Piercy, manager at Cam Tescos said: “I think the grow a £1 project is a great piece of work, with these guys thinking outside the box by coming to a supermarket to run their marathon. And we here at Tesco cam are always happy to help out with local community projects.”