A MAN famous for his fundraising tactics announced he was going to tackle London Marathon moving backwards.

Tom Harrison, a dad from Amersham, has pledged to help Ukrainians with an unusual stunt at London Marathon in April.

In September last year, Mr Harrison, also known as Mr Gorilla, walked 263 miles in 15 days from Land’s End in Cornwall to Parliament Square in London.

It isn’t his first time tackling the world-famous marathon differently. In 2017, he crawled through the gruelling 26.2 mile route in a gorilla outfit to raise £40,000. 

He said: “I like to fundraise, but I like to do things differently.

“Doing that challenges me, but it also gives a wider appeal to people, and they’re more likely to sponsor. It’s a win win!

Bucks Free Press: 'Mr Gorilla' wants to raise money for good causes differently'Mr Gorilla' wants to raise money for good causes differently (Image: Tom Harrison)

“I often look at things backwards, like words in a sentence sometimes.

“We learn from doing that – from seeing stuff differently. I’ve already learnt from walking backwards, which sounds ridiculous but I have.

“Hopefully it will inspire other people to do their adventures, whether small or big.

“It’s going to be hard, just like when I walked from Land's End to London.

“You have to push through the difficult bits.”

Managing his epilepsy with regular medication and living with the condition has helped him to face challenges with an open and curious mind.

“I don’t often talk about it, but I have epilepsy, and I take medicine to keep it under control, and sometimes that can result as little bit of dizziness, but you just need to deal with it.

“It’s about having faith, and knowing, generally, you’re going to be okay," he said. 

Devastatingly, nothing has changed in Ukraine over the past year, Mr Harrison said.

“This will be the third fundraiser I’ve done for Red Cross in Ukraine in the past year. Missiles are still landing on homes and infrastructure, shelling in the same way and people are being killed in the front line. Both sides are being affected, and there are really no winners in war," he said. 

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Mr Harrison has trained moving backwards at his local cricket pitch using the pitch to orientate himself. 

At London Marathon, he can use the pavement.

“As I’m going around, I’m facing backwards, so I’ll be seeing everything I’ve done, so I can pass the mile mark and see back the last mile I’ve covered, which will be psychologically much better for me.

“In some ways, it may actually be beneficial for me to go backwards. Maybe I’ll start a trend!”

The fundraiser can be found here.