Ryan Diver hopes to turn heads with his vivid purple hair when he runs the New York Marathon for charity.

The software developer from York has already raised more than £1,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) in London.

Ryan, 24, of Beckfield Lane, Acomb, flew to New York from Heathrow yesterday sporting a head of luminous purple hair, the work of stylists at the Beyond The Fringe salon, in Acomb. He said: “It has always been one of my life ambitions to run a marathon and when one of my parent’s friends had a baby that was born with complications it needed treatment at Great Ormond Street.

“The staff at GOSH were amazing and I thought raising money for the charity would be a great way to give something back.”

Ryan will be running the marathon tomorrow with childhood friend Joseph Palmer, 24, from Rotherham, and Ryan hopes his purple hair will help him stand out from the crowd.

He said: “I keep forgetting I’ve had it done and have to think for a minute why people keep staring at me. It is pretty vivid. I’d like to thank the staff at Beyond The Fringe for doing it for free.”

Ryan, who ran the Great North Run earlier this year, was training hard for New York up until about a month ago when he injured his hamstring playing football.

He said: “I’ve been resting up since then and I’m not looking to get round in any kind of record time, as long as I finish.

“When I did the Great North Run the atmosphere was amazing. There were 54,000 runners taking part in that and there’ll be loads more than that running in New York, so I can’t wait.”

To sponsor Ryan log on to justgiving.com/rd507