Anthony’s pain is charity gain
EMMA CURRY
ANOVICE runner shed blood, sweat and tears to raise money for East Lancashire Hospice.
Anthony Matthews, 32, of Walter Street, Oswaldtwistle, took on Pain Barrier, a 10k race with daunting sections including the Marsh of Misery, Swamp of Suffering and Horrific Hills.
He and five fellow gymgoers took part in the race, which he described as a ‘hilly and borderline sadistic mud run with obstacles’, in Tong, Bradford.
He took it on as a personal challenge, despite declaring, ‘I have never done anything like this before and hate running outdoors, I mean seriously hate it’, and was inspired to raise funds for the hospice, which provides care for people with life-limiting illnesses.
He added: “I chose to raise funds for East Lancashire Hospice, as we lost somebody who was very close to mine, my wife’s and many of our friends’ hearts to cancer in 2014 and she spent her last days at the hospice.
“We’ve all lost someone very close to us to cancer or some form of illness. Hospices like East Lancashire Hospice provide respite and end of life care, as well as support afterwards to everyone affected.”
Anthony raised a total of £347.88 in sponsorship, and admitted that the race was ‘even tougher than he thought it would be’.
He added: “Because of it being mainly woodlands, it was very muddy, very uneven ground, so plenty of slips and slides, you had to really be conscious of your footing.
“It was hard but we enjoyed it.
“There was literally blood, sweat and tears - thankfully only a little blood, but plenty of sweat to make up for it.
“We were definitely proud of what we did, none of us had done anything like it before, and we all had our charities we were raising for and as a group we made quite a good amount.”
Anthony now plans to do Pain Barrier again next year, hoping to raise £2,017 for charity in 2017.
Jennifer Quinn, East Lancashire Hospice fundraiser, said: “We’re so grateful to Anthony for putting himself through the Pain Barrier and raising money for the hospice.
“We really rely on the community to help us raise the £3.5 million it takes to keep our doors open, so we are just so delighted when people like Anthony step up and support us.
“A huge thank you to Anthony from everybody at the hospice.”