Two friends raised over £11,000 after taking part in the Great North West Half Marathon in Blackpool.

Bashir Mulla and Arif Ismail joined hundreds from across the region and completed the 13 mile distance for the first time.

Bashir said, "Neither of us have run this distance before and we were not taking it lightly!

“We trained hard for the event and tried to raise as as much as we possibly could.

“We seemed to be okay for the first nine miles and then we struggled.

“We would like to thank all the businesses who donated to a worthy cause and helped us raise such a fantastic amount.”

The lads finished the run in 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Arif added, “All monies raised will be going to help the people of Gaza via Interpal, a UK registered charity (1040094) helping Palestinians in need.”

As well as all the individual and business donations the duo wanted to thank Masjid Irfan (Eldon Road), Masjid-e-Anwar (Granville Road) and the Al-Asr Masjid (St Silas Road).

All money raised will be going to help the suffering people of Gaza via Interpal - a UK registered charity helping Palestinians.