IT’S AGAINST THE CLOCK THIS TIME
FOUR NATIONS MARCH WILL BE A GREAT TEST
THE WALKING shoes are on again for the next marathon challenge with Prostate Cancer UK. Four marathons, four countries, four days. We’ll be stopping at 16 new clubs between September 5-8 as we aim to break through the £1m raised for this disease that kills one man every 45 minutes. It’s a staggering statistic.
My idea was all our previous 25 marathons have been completed in England – but it’s Prostate Cancer UK. Of course, men in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland suffer just as much so we should get out there and bang the drum.
It’s not the same duration of walk as the first two – ten marathons in ten days before 15 in 15 – but it’s got its own difficulties.
Effort
Every day is a walk against the clock. We’ve got to get finished, get to the airport, get through security and on the last flight to our next destination so we’re ready to start the next morning.
We launched the ‘March for Men’ earlier this week by jetting around the UK in a day, starting out at Hampden Park, then Windsor Park in Belfast and Wales’ Principality Stadium via a short stint at Bristol. The whirlwind trip gave an idea of potential stumbling blocks. Belfast International Airport’s security was struggling, to say the least, to cope with the numbers!
Recovery between days it’s going to be one of the big problems. You can only set off in the morning at a certain time because the night before we often won’t arrive at the hotel until 10 or 11pm – then you’ve got to have enough time to recuperate.
On the other walks we could have a bit of physio at the end of the day, get to the hotel, have a nice long bath, a bite to eat – a beer – and recharge. That’s not going to happen this year because it’s all about the pressure of time.
It will be worth it, however, to get to the four home nations. We’ve met so many great people in the previous two challenges and hopefully this will also give us the chance to get some new celebrities along – although Paul Merson has already said he wants to do all four days and Matt Le Tissier wants to get involved again. It’s also the international weekend. When we’re in Belfast it will be the night after they’ve played a friendly against Luxembourg and a few days before they play Germany – hopefully there will be a few celebs and pundits we can drag in. Their phones will be ringing soon!