Tommy Greenhouse is running a marathon tomorrow.

The 22-year-old will set off from Dunkertons in Charlton Kings at 10am and is expected to finish at Dunkertons at about 3pm.

That’s pretty impressive given the time of year but what makes it all the more impressive is that it will be the one-time Bournside School pupil’s 52^nd marathon of 2025.

Remarkably, Greenhouse, who is running to raise money for 52 charities, had never run 26.2 miles before this year.

“I wasn’t a runner,” he said. “I’m 5ft 5in, I’m a stocky lad, I don’t have the frame for running and I have the worst asthma.”

So why did he start running?

“It was in July 2024,” he explained. “I remember feeling exhausted walking up stairs and thinking, ‘This isn’t good’.

“So I ran a 5K and it took me 35 minutes, then I ran a few more and became obsessed with getting my times down.”

And it all went from there because within three months he was hatching a plan to run 52 marathons in 52 weeks in 2025.

The original plan was to run one a week in each of England’s 48 counties plus an additional marathon in Cardiff, Istanbul, Dubai and at Egypt's Pyramids of Giza.  

It hasn’t quite worked out that way because a couple of injuries have meant that Greenhouse, who lives in St Mark’s in Cheltenham, has had to miss a few weeks and then cram the marathons he missed into a few days.

But he has now run 51 marathons – he has a best time of three hours, 30 minutes – and he is looking forward to completing the set.

And a very emotional run it will be too because he will be running around his home town in aid of mental health charity Mind.

That is a charity very close to Greenhouse’s heart because four years ago he was diagnosed with depression and anxiety after attempting to take his own life.

Mind was a big support for him and he said: “I’m a lot better now, I won’t go back to where I was but I still have days when I feel down or anxious.

“It comes and goes but I’ve learned to cope with it.”

And running 52 marathons in 52 weeks has certainly helped him.

“I’ve got naturally low self-esteem but it has made me push myself,” he said. “It’s pure willpower that has got me through, I promised myself I would complete the challenge, I would have crawled it if I had to.”

Fortunately, he didn’t need to, and he was certainly in an upbeat mood when he spoke to The Local Answer, so what’s next for Greenhouse in 2026?

“I’m going to go to Australia and Asia for six weeks but I’m definitely going to keep on running,” he said.

“I’m thinking of taking on some extreme challenges, possibly a 24-hour cycle marathon.

“I’m also thinking of running a marathon backwards, running one on crutches and swimming a marathon although I wouldn’t do any of those in one go!”