Runners often pant - it's normal. But running only in pants? Not so normal.

But last Sunday, to raise more than £1,100 for the Jewish Council for Racial Equality (JCORE) to support refugees, 26-year-old Ben Wright ran across London in just his underwear.

It was not a brief trip either, with the runner covering 12 miles as he raced from west Croydon to St John's Wood, attracting what he admitted were "baffled looks" in the process.

Mr Wright, an education coordinator for JCORE, said his underclad state prompted the funniest reactions from children. "One let out a 10-second 'eeew' when he saw me. And another, on Battersea Bridge, said to his mother: 'Mum, that man has no trousers on,' and then, a few seconds later: 'He's crazy.'"

But Mr Wright said it was worth it to attract funds needed to supply refugees in Calais and asylum seekers in London with their own undergarments.

"Underwear is an unseen necessity, which is why the run was good, because everyone saw my underwear and realised how important it was. I mean, if I didn't have underwear, I would've been naked - and arrested."