North junior football club Forres Thistle raise over £2000 for Mental Mechanics charity and Forres Girls FC by running the equivalent distance between Forres and Glasgow in 24 hours
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
FORRES Thistle went the extra mile to raise more than £2000 for two good causes in a charity running challenge.
The junior club limbered up for their forthcoming season by putting out 24 runners to run an hour each for a full day of road racing in and around the Forres area.
The craze of 24-hour challenges has swept the north-east during the coronavirus lockdown period, and Jags took up the baton in an effort to make some money for two groups with local links.
They chose Mental Mechanics, a football club set up in Edinburgh by two ex-Forres Mechanics youth players studying in the capital. The club was founded in memory of a close friend who took his own life, to give men a safe haven to talk about mental health issues.
Forres Girls Football Club will also receive half of the fundraising total, which ended at £2193. The club is run by well-known local SFA football coach Graeme Sutherland.
Thistle started their running at 7pm on Friday night with former Can Can Scotty Moore going beyond 12 kilometres.
Some big distances were amassed, with second runner Danny Black going for 15.77km in his hour, seemingly destined to be the star performer until Ross Paterson came in at 1pm on Saturday with an impressive 16.35km.
By the time Neil Moir completed the 24th and final leg, running in 14.11km at 6pm, Jags had accumulated 286.68km, a distance further than from Forres to Glasgow, and raised more than four times their initial £500 target.
“Over £2000 donated, nearly 200 miles run – what an incredible achievement by the squad,” said a club spokesperson.
“A massive thank you to everyone that has donated. The club has received amazing support on this challenge and the Forres Girls football club and Mental Mechanics will benefit greatly from your generosity.”
Not only did the entire Forres Thistle playing squad take up the charity quest, so too did manager Tony Ross and his coaching staff.
Ross clocked up more than 10km while his brother Chris and fellow coach Lee Davidson also ran their hour stints, as did goalkeeping coach Johnny Fyfe.
Last season’s top goalscorer Matty Fraser managed nearly 14km in his run, while local youngster Rian Wilson joined in on the act by doing the third last leg.
Meanwhile Jags are back in full training this week, looking to pick up from where they left off last season when the north junior campaign gets underway.
Last season was declared null-and-void, a blow for Forres who were in strong contetion to win the Division 2 title and gain promotion.
Instead they will start again in the bottom division when the league is given the go-ahead to resume, and Jags will be eager to repeat their achievements of last year.
