A SEVEN-year-old boy's mum and dad cried tears of pride as he completed a 21-mile charity walk against all the odds.

Among the many stories of courage that enriched Sunday's Coniston to Barrow (C2B) and Keswick to Barrow (K2B) Walks was that of Joe Elson, of Cartmel.

Aged just three, Joe was diagnosed with MLD, the same incurable degenerative disease as his older sister, Connie. He underwent groundbreaking and gruelling gene therapy in Italy to prevent the onset of symptoms, but tragically Connie could not be treated as her symptoms had already begun.

Mum Nicola said Joe was "spurred on" to do the walk after seeing his sister's medal from 2017, when dad Ian pushed her along the challenging C2B route in her wheelchair.

Nicola told the Gazette that Joe was "over the moon" to cross the finish line with her after nine hours 15 minutes, in bright sunshine. Cheering them on was dad Ian, who had run the 37.5 miles from Keswick to Barrow as part of a team of nine for Butterfly Hugs - the charity set up by the Elsons and friends to help other families in their hour of need.

"We kept saying it's really not far now," said Nicola, who accompanied Joe with family friend Karen Bradshaw and her children Thomas and Hannah.

"When he got his little medal and his time card, myself and Ian were just in absolute tears, I'm not ashamed to say. It was really emotional.

"To do it on top of everything he's been through is so special. He blew us all away."

Sadly, nine-year-old Connie was not able to attend as she is "quite poorly now", said Nicola, and was at home being looked after by family.

Nicola said she felt "overwhelmingly proud" of Connie and Joe. "He didn’t arrive home to the rowdy cheers he deserved; we were the stragglers and the crowds had thinned, but it didn’t matter, he’d done it."

The family are now firmly focused on their charity music festival, Joe and Connie Calling, taking place in Cartmel on Saturday, June 9 - tickets from www.butterflyhugs.co.uk.

Kendal mum Clare Feeney-Johnson and her sister Sara Fullalove completed their 11th K2B and praised the event as the best they had ever done, thanks to the tremendous efforts of organisers and volunteers.

"The sense of achievement when you get to the end is amazing," said Clare, who finished in nine hours 36 minutes with Sara and her sister's nephew Eddie Barrow, 21.

Clare's daughter Sasha, 17, walked the C2B with her uncle, Mark Fullalove, and together the family have raised around £1,000 for the "wonderful" St Mary's Hospice, Ulverston.

Clare added: "We are absolutely up for number 12."

The C2B was also a family occasion for Lisa Preston, a fundraiser at St John's Hospice, Lancaster, and her twin boys, aged 12. Lisa and Jacob ran the course in three hours 47 minutes, and Alex walked with family friends Val and Jack Wardle.

"I've always been a big supporter of the hospice and now I'm lucky enough to work there," said Lisa, of Lancaster. Praising the event's camaraderie, she said: "Everybody is rooting for each other, everybody is so friendly. People have their car boots open offering you Jelly Babies and Vaseline, it's just brilliant."

When Alex reached Dalton, he told his mum he felt "really good", so Lisa - who had already showered and changed - swapped her flip-flops for trainers and ran to Barrow with him. They were among 100-plus people walking/running for St John's Hospice.

The first woman across the line in the C2B was Julie Hunter, a physiotherapist who lives in Great Urswick. As Julie modestly explained, that does not necessarily mean she was the fastest, because start times were staggered, but she was very pleased with her time of three hours eight minutes.

Julie, a Hoad Hill Harrier, was among 36 walkers/runners raising money for Low Furness CE Primary School, in her home village.