A former Eggheads star joined a 24-hour marathon for Ukraine in Newport this week.

The TV star was one of hundreds of runners who took part in the 24-hour training session- after placing first in a parkrun just two hours before.  

On top of running a marathon as part of the event, which aimed to raise money for the victims of the Ukraine crisis, CJ de Mooi faced the added challenge of answering a new quiz question every lap.   

“It was difficult, after stupidly racing a ParkRun before,” joked the actor and activist, who was a panellist on the popular BBC quiz show between 2003 and 2011.  

He described himself as “immensely proud” to contribute to the “team effort” of helping raise the much-needed funds.  

The 24-hour training session, which began at noon on Saturday at Newport Stadium, was organised by the Lliswerry Runners club. The clubs’ members aimed to run the 1,300 miles between Newport and Ukraine.  

So far, they have raised over £7,000 for the DEC Humanitarian Appeal for Ukraine, well above the club’s initial target of £1,300.   

“The events in Ukraine have made a huge impact, particularly with the Russian retreat and the stories that are coming out,” said Club Chair Chris Davies.  

“As a community-minded club, which is something we are known for, just doing nothing would not have been acceptable.”   

The runners, whose ages ranged from 1 to 81, collectively ran 1,500 miles. 24 of those were run by CJ de Mooi, who barely slowed down despite taking first place at Rogiet parkrun two and a half hours before.      

“That’s never been done before I’m sure,” said Mr Davies. “He did so well- it’s hard enough running a marathon, let alone answering a quiz question every 400m!”    

Since being founded in 1985, Lliswerry Runners have become one of South Wales’ leading running clubs, with over 500 members.  

The club began discussing how they could help the victims of Russia’s unprovoked invasion after several of their members volunteered through the Women of Newport Facebook group to help load medical supplies and donations onto lorries travelling to Ukraine.  

“We’ve got members helping the Women of Newport group, and some families that are taking Ukrainians into their homes, or are at least trying to go through the process,” said Mr Davies.  

“This was really just something else we could do to help as a club.”  

You can donate to the Lliswerry Runners JustGiving page here.