Football coach and keen runner Mark Morris is no stranger to challenges in aid of a good cause.
But when he decided to run from his home club Brigg Town all the way to Old Trafford, home of Manchester United, he admitted he found it “a toughie”. The date of his attempt also just happened to coincide with Storm Lilian.
Mark said: “We are raising money for a new 4G pitch and changing rooms at Brigg. It’s going to be a facility to benefit the whole of the local community.
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“I said I’d do this for them. Why Brigg Town to Manchester United? Just because I’m an idiot, probably,” joked Mark. “I had thought about running from Brigg to Wembley but the route was too dangerous.”
For much of the run, which was on August 23, Mark was alone, but he did have his son, Harry, and his pal and fellow coach Jason West along for some of the stretches.
(Image: Mark Morris)
Mark said: “It was horrible that day, when I woke up that morning it was chucking it down. When I hit the Pennines I fell in bogs up to my waist.
“I had to go for some rocks and heather to shelter for a while. I lost a glove, my head-torch went and I couldn’t get a phone signal up there anyway.”
All told the journey was 109 miles and it took Mark 21 hours. “My knees were bleeding and my running shoes were wrecked and everything when I got off the Pennines, that was around 95 miles.
“Jason and my lad came to join me again at that point and we drove about six miles. Then I did a final lap of Old Trafford,” said Mark, who had started off the challenge with a lap at Brigg’s ground.
Mark has previously run for Young Minds and Lindsey Lodge Hospice. “I do a lot of running for charity,” he said. “I do a lot for Lindsey Lodge. My mum sadly passed away from bowel cancer there in 2016 and since then I’ve been fundraising.”
Mark, who works in Grimsby as a teacher, lives in Brigg and has been a junior coach at the football club for the past eight years. “We want to replace the turf with a 4G pitch and update the changing rooms,” he said.
“I managed to raise over £2,000 from my run. My JustGiving page is still open for anyone who would like to donate.”
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Original artice: https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/all-about/scunthorpe
