Dad to Run 100 Miles After Daughter was Diagnosed with Autism

Craig Henderson with her wife and daughter Estie.

Craig Henderson, a Sunderland dad, wants to run 100 miles in a month in effort to raise money for charity after his daughter, Estie, was diagnosed with autism. 

Henderson is almost halfway through his epic challenge to run 100 miles by the end of June in support of the North East Autism Society (NEAS). His daughter was diagnosed with autism last year and over the last 18 months they’ve been working very hard to be able to give her the right support she needs at her school and at home. As a family, they built a strong relationship with NEAS who really supported them, so the family wanted to give them something in return.

"I work for BGL Group, which supports NEAS, then I was told to look after the company’s relationship with the charity so, I jumped at the chance. They’ve been amazing, we work together really well. NEAS were one of the first we contacted when Estie was diagnosed, and we’ve gotten a lot of support from them. I decided that apart from managing BGL’s charity efforts for NEAS, I wanted to do something personally to raise some awareness, and maybe some money for them”, says Henderson to Sophie Finnegan from Chronicle Live.

Henderson is already a runner, ice hockey player, and a blackbelt which means that he’s in good form, but running 100 miles was still going to be a challenge for him.

"The best part has been doing this with Estie. She comes to the running track with me, and she’s always full of energy. She’s only 5 years old but she can keep up with me for 2 miles and screams at me to catch up! Perhaps we will get her involved in this when she’s older”, says Henderson to Chronicle Live.

Henderson is also working with NEAS to organize and run The Sensory Group, which is a Sunderland-based group to support parents of children with autism. 

Currently, he has run 31 miles and has raised £150 for NEAS.