Sara Cox receives support from The Rock ahead of Children In Need challenge

BBC Radio 2 presenter Sara Cox has said she received words of encouragement from Hollywood star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson ahead of her Children In Need challenge.

Cox, who presents Radio 2’s Teatime Show on weekdays, will soon take on the equivalent of five marathons in five days, covering 135 miles on foot across four counties to raise money for Children In Need.

Ahead of the challenge in November, Cox told PA news agency that the film star, known for the Fast and Furious franchise, Jumanji and The Smashing Machine, shared some words of support.

She said: “He was great. I did ask him if he fancied to come up along the route and give me a piggyback at some point. He insisted he was very busy before he even knew what the date was of the challenge.

“But he did say, just picture how you’d feel if you didn’t do it, if you didn’t push yourself that extra bit, which was helpful.

“I’ll have that ringing in my ears. There’s no way I can’t finish it. I’ve got to, I’ve got to complete it.”

Carrying a Pudsey Bear backpack, Sara’s Great Northern Marathon Challenge will see the presenter run, jog and walk through the sweeping moorlands and rolling hills of Northumberland, Durham, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, starting from Kielder Forest on November 10 and ending in Pudsey, Leeds, on November 14.

It will be Radio 2’s longest-ever challenge in terms of duration with Cox’s fellow presenters offering their support and motivation during their shows as well as sharing messages from listeners and guests.

Speaking about the decision to take part in the challenge, Cox said: “The problem is, when you get asked to do the Children In Need challenge, because it’s a huge privilege wrapped up in some extreme physical exertion, you can’t say no to it because why would you say no?

“You’re getting offered the chance to do a massive challenge that is hopefully going to change loads of children’s lives.

“The way I’m doing it, mentally, is I’m doing lots of five miles because at the end of five or six miles, that’s when somebody will put some ice on my knee and hopefully give me a bar of chocolate or something and then I’ll get out to the next one.”

Cox also received some advice from Radio 2 presenter Paddy McGuinness who completed a cycle challenge last year and raised £10.3 million for the charity.

She said: “The build-up itself is actually quite hard and Paddy was good. He was like, ‘look, just block out all the noise. Block out all the noise, and just get training’, which was helpful.

“The challenge has completely taken over my life, the training and the build up to it.

“It’s all hard work, but it’s all for a really good reason.

“You don’t really realise that there’s hundreds of charities all around the UK getting help by Children In Need and you don’t really realise the amazing work they’re doing until you need them yourself, god forbid, you get a diagnosis out of the blue, or your child starts to struggle.

“So I think that’s the brilliant thing with Children In Need. It just shines a light on all these charities that just day by day, they just keep on keeping on – supporting children and their families.

“I feel like it’s massively important to just shout about these charities run by amazing people who dedicate their lives to helping kids. That’s sort of the magic of Children In Need.”

Listeners can tune in to BBC Radio 2 from November 10–14 to follow along as Cox takes on the Great Northern Marathon Challenge for BBC Children in Need.

For information on how to donate by text or online to support’s Sara’s challenge, please visit bbc.co.uk/sara.