A man whose friend died on an interrail trip in Crete has set up a JustGiving page for support of a charity in his memory ahead of embarking on marathons across seven European cities in seven days.
Ibrahim Akhtar, 27, is to begin his first leg of the challenge in Crete on September 15 where his friend Archie Lloyd had died on the final day of the trip they had taken after leaving school.
The 18-year-old Harrow student died after being punched by a club promotor during a night out in Malia amid a drunk row.
A man was given a four year suspended sentence for manslaughter by a court in Crete in 2018.
A charity called teamArchie was launched following Mr Lloyd’s death in 2015. It supports and champions young lives across the world through sport, according to its website.
Mr Akhtar is to run the ‘777 challenge’ for teamArchie and partner charities which will see him complete seven consecutive marathons on each of the seven days. He will travel across Crete, Athens, Budapest, Prague, Berlin and Amsterdam.
The final marathon is to take place in London on the 21st where he expects to be joined by about 50 people.
Speaking to the Standard about the marathons he said: “I will be running through each of the locations me and Archie visited on our trip. I will start in Crete and work my way backwards to how we did it. It will be great to support the chosen causes and continue the good he left behind.
“I suppose this will also be a personal journey for me. Dealing with grief at a young age has been quite tough.
“It’s something a lot of young people don’t know how to deal with given you hope you don’t have to until later on in life. But I think it’s important to channel that grief into doing positive things and this is just my outlet. So this will be a physical journey, but also an emotional one.”
Mr Akhtar has mentioned he and Mr Lloyd’s shared passion for sport on a the fundraiser he set up ahead of the marathon. It has already smashed its £10,000 target due to the support of donations made by nearly 150 people.
He said: “I’m absolutely ecstatic the fundraiser has reached £10,000 before even starting. The support from everyone, including my family and friends, has been amazing.”
For the marathon challenge, teamArchie is to partner with two causes including the Alsama Project - which sets up sports and education in a refugee camp in Lebanon -and Football Beyond Borders (FBB).
FBB works with disadvantaged young people across the UK who are passionate about football but disengaged at school, providing the skills and grades to make a successful transition into adulthood.
