A DAD is honouring the memory of a headteacher who died of Covid-19 by running more than 250 miles.

Patrick Robinson, 44, who works at BAE Systems, is paying tribute to Roose Primary School headteacher Wendy Jacobs, who died after contracting coronavirus in March.

Mr Robinson felt particularly close to this cause as his two children both attended Roose Primary School and knew Mrs Jacobs well.

He said: “She was just absolutely fantastic - a door’s always open sort of person.

“She was so welcoming. There was nothing she wouldn’t do for you.

“She was a brilliant person and a great head. Everyone loved her.”

Mr Robinson felt inspired to do something in her memory after watching Sir Tom Moore take on 100 laps for the NHS.

He said: “Initially the idea extended from Sir Tom Moore when he did the amazing thing for NHS and after the tragedy of Wendy’s passing from Covid-19, I thought it would be a good idea to do something for the school.

“It’s been devastating for the school and the wider community.”

After consulting with Roose Primary, Mr Robinson decided to raise money for the school garden area which is in need of a revamp.

He said: “There’s a lovely garden area next to the playground which isn’t being attended to so myself and the school decided that anything I could raise would go towards revamping that whole area and any left over would go towards local charities.”

Mr Robinson is currently on day 22 of his 100 lap challenge which is a 2.4 mile run around the Holbeck Estate bypassing the Roose School gates.

On the final day, Mr Robinson plans on running 22 miles from Mrs Jacob’s hometown in Grange to Roose Primary School’s gates. The running challenge will be a mammoth 270 miles from start to finish.

Mr Robinson said the response from the community had been ‘brilliant’.

“Everyone loves it but thinks I’m nuts,” he said.

“The response I got when I first went public with it was amazing. The feedback really lifted my spirits.”