VERNON Kay has revealed heartbreaking stories from members of the public kept him going on his ultramarathon challenge.
Radio 2 DJ Vernon told The Sun how speaking with a woman who had terminal cancer and a woman who’d lost her baby kept him moving on the four day challenge.
Vernon, 49, finished his epic 115 mile challenge this morning and has so far raised over £4.5million for Children In Need.
In an exclusive chat from the Bolton Wanderers stadium, Vernon said: “There was a lady who stopped by the side of the road. I stopped and I said: ‘What’s the matter?’
“She said two weeks ago I lost my husband and I’ve just been told I’ve got terminal cancer.
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“Then we had a lady who had just lost her baby, she threw her arms around me and was crying in my arms.
“We had a lady who has just lost her sister to Motor Neurone disease, she ran with us as part of the Stockport Harriers.
“So many special stories pushed me along.”
A chance meeting on Kinder Scout, which is 636metres above sea level, also pushed Vernon through the pain.
He said: “A man was on Kinder Scout walking his dog and he said to me, ‘You said something to me on the radio when you first started. I was in a really dark place and you managed to give my son his dad back.’
“I am on the top of Kinder, I am freezing, I can’t see more than 20 feet in front of me and I have just realised that me being on the radio means so much to this man.
“That gives you a boost.”
Vernon said Kinder Scout was punishing mentally as well as physically.
The struggle saw him asking organisers to change their plans because he was so desperate to rest.
He added: “We really hit the wall after Kinder. I just couldn’t get any positivity between my ears and that is so unlike me.
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“I just couldn’t get out of first gear, it was doing my head in.
“I said, ‘Can we stop here, spend the day in bed and maybe start at midnight and run through the night to Bolton?’ and they said: ‘That’s not going to happen’.
“Honestly, on my phone I have 57 playlists and I have not listened to one song in my headphones.
“It’s the people got me through.”
Arriving at the Bolton Wanderers ground this morning, Vernon received wild cheers from the crowds - and a hug from his mum Gladys.
Vernon's TV presenter wife Tess Daly, 54, who is currently preparing for tomorrow's Strictly showpiece in Blackpool, said she was “gutted” not to be at her husband's side to celebrate the special moment.
The pair shared a video call earlier in the day as she praised Vernon’s huge achievement.
Fans can donate to his fundraiser for Children in Need at www.bbc.co.uk/vernon.
