Thursday 12 July 2007

Friday 13th local derby showdown

Not only is this Friday my Birthday, it is also the day when a mackem from work, Steven Moore, will be racing against me over a marathon distance in the Cairngorms. We will both be wearing our respective team's colours.

He's got 10 years and a 5 stone advantage over me but I still fancy my chances in what promises to be a keenly contested affair. Also I will have run nearly 160 miles over the previous 6 days. There's no room for excuses though! I'll be hoping to follow in the footsteps of O'Brien, Dabizas, Bellamy, Shearer, Emre, Chopra etc etc in getting one over the local rivals.

Steven is getting sponsored in his own right for taking part in this challenge. The proceeds are also going to St Benedict's Hospice.

The kick off time is 07:30 am and the contest is not being exclusively covered by Sky. The early start is to discourage any pre match drinking!

The pressure of running a marathon day in day out will be forgotten on Friday 13th. The ultimate bragging rights are up for grabs as I hope to set up a possible hat trick of victories over the mackems this season.

Watch this space (and no doubt nufc.com) on Friday for up to the minute developments.