Rugby fan from Lancaster village walking 100km in one day to raise £100k for Motor Neurone Disease charity

Paul James from Overton who is a Wigan Warriors Rugby League fan will be walking, with a group of friends, 100km in a day from Leeds to Hull on September 15 and aims to raise £100k for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

Paul said: “I was heartbroken to see that Rob Burrow, formerley of Leeds Rhino's had been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease.

"Watching the documentaries about Rob and his family, I was humbled at the determination and dignity they have shown and have been in awe of the incredible feats of Kevin Sinfield in raising both funds for Rob and the MND community, along with much needed awareness of this horrible disease.

“In March this year I exchanged a few messages with Simon Hallas, a close friend from our time at Heysham Power Station, who'd also been watching the documentaries and suggested he'd like to do something for MND and was I interested.

“So here I am, six months later getting ready to walk with a small group of friends, from the Headingley Stadium in Leeds to the MKM Stadium in Hull.”

Some of Paul’s friends are Rugby League fans like himself although supporters of Hull FC, others are Rugby Union Supporters in Sale, whilst others follow football with Preston North End and Liverpool - all sports which have seen high profile players suffer with MND.

Paul said: “The training for the team has been interesting as eight of us are spread around the north of England in Ulverston, Lancaster, Preston, Altrincham, Sale and Hull, whilst one is in Switzerland and one in France, so the majority of our training has been solitary.

"On a personal level, physically it's been hard increasing my weekly mileage to achieve my training goal distance of 65k whilst carrying a few niggles and injuries.

"Mentally, it's been tough, particularly on the 11 and 12 hour walks with constant battles going on in my mind, such as " why are you doing this at nearly 64 years old?", " do you really think you'll be fit enough?" and "what state are you going to be in after 24 hours?"

“There's no doubt we'll have some tough times during the day and night, both physically and mentally going to some "dark places", particularly when the fatigue sets in.

"But the aches and pains will be gone in 48-72 hours, unlike the pains of the brave people coping with MND on a daily basis, not forgetting their families and friends.

“I've had fantastic support for my training and fundraising journey so far, from my family, friends, the Overton Village community, the "Let's Run Morecambe" group and the team at "Morecambe Prom Park Run.

“We'll be setting up an online tracker so that people can watch us "virtually" throughout the 24 hours from any device.

"There's no need for an app, the track will be live from around 11am on Friday, September 15 and can be accessed via the link https://locatoweb.com/group/100k-in-a-day

“We'll also be extremely grateful for any donations made to our Just Giving Page: https://www.justgiving.com/team/100kminaday