I spoke to Alan Boothroyd earlier this evening and he seemed more daunted at the thought of running into the pitch at Hudderfield Town’s home match tomorrow than about the rest of his run between Lands End and John O’Groats.
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He arrived in Barnsley this afternoon having completed 16 marathons in the 8 days he’s spent on the road so far you’d think the small matter of 28 miles and a chance to watch Huddersfield take on Peterborough would be just the tonic he needed. But in typically modest fashion he’s not sure he’s done enough to warrant the fuss.
“I’m a bit frightened about Huddersfield Town tomorrow”, he says, “But I know I’ve got to do it to raise more money. I think I’ve done enough to do that.”
“Ive done pretty good so far, he added. I feel a bit embarrassed about doing the pitch stuff when I’ve not done it before.”
If running around 400 miles in 8 days doesn’t qualify as pretty good I’m not sure what does. So it’s up to everyone at that match tomorrow to shout and clap and tell Alan exactly what they think of his heroic effort.
“The twitter support has been amazing” Alan says excitedly. “A lot of Huddersfield Town fans but people from all over.”
“I’m going to watch the first half and then I’ll go.
“I’m getting up earlier so I can get all my hours in and then have a sleep after I’ve had my lunch, he adds. Then finish the last 10 miles.
“I can have a bit of a lay in tomorrow, but still probably wake around 3am.
“I’m frightened that I don’t want to be running at 7 o’clock at night, he explains. I won’t have time to prepare for the day after.
“I’ve got a system and it’s working for me at the moment.”
And with 12 days to go Alan looks at the map and sees a lot of North England and Scotland in his way before any thoughts of celebrating success can be comtemplated.
“I’m expecting it to get really hard next week, Alan concludes.
“It’s what I expected, but I’m expecting it to get harder on Sunday.
“I’ll be on my own a lot, although I’ve got people coming up to see me in Scotland.”
So get behind him everyone whether that is on twitter by sending messages to @alanboothroyd1 or by donating to a great cause. He’s doing everyone proud.
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