Gazza welcomes Shropshire wheelchair marathon men
Three wheelchair-bound athletes have completed five marathons in five days, and they crossed the finish line, bumped into a famous footballing face.
Craig Nicholson, 40, from Craven Arms, Glen Leversedge, 50, from Oswestry and Scott Smith, 26, from Wolverhampton, completed the 137 miles along the south coast between Eastbourne and Poole, raising thousands for good causes in the process.
But the three friends, all members of the Tennis Shropshire wheelchair team, were not expecting to find England legend Gazza waiting for them.
Mr Smith said: "Yes – that is Paul Gascoigne! We met him in Sandbanks, Poole as we crossed the finish line. Spent a few minutes chatting and was more than happy to have the photo taken."
The three are still collecting money but have raised thousands each for the Midlands spinal unit at Oswestry’s Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hosptial, and young people’s sports at Craven Arms Community Centre in Mr Nicholson’s home town.
Mr Nicholson said he chose chose the charity that runs the centre, Community Arts and Sports Craven Arms, which is linked to South Shropshire Furniture Scheme, because it gives youngsters in the town the opportunity to play sports, receive coaching and take part in free activities.
He said: “I’ve done a lot of things for charity but never five marathons in five days. But it was a great experience and I would certainly think about doing it again. It’s a funny thing but I really missed it when we stopped doing it.
“People along the route were absolutely marvellous. They came out with offers of free food and drink and we even had a lorry driver pay for one of our meals.
“It proved a little hairy early on as we tackled the hilly section between Eastbourne and Brighton. One of the lads was coming down a hill in his chair very quickly, about 50km an hour, and was trying to slow himself down. He burnt his hands and got a few blisters but he was ok.
“The weather was very hot and one of our lads got a touch of sunstroke early on but he rallied and we all completed the challenge five days and five marathons later on Sandbanks Beach, Poole.
“Paul Gascoigne was there at the beach and we all had our photograph taken with him, so that was special.
“My aim was to raise about £2,500. All the money isn’t in yet but it looks like we will be over the £3,000 mark. I’m pleased with that because CasCa is something very close to my heart.”
The three were also joined by friend Paul Rogers on a bicycle and Craig’s wife Cheryl as part of the support team.
Jean Jarvis, chief executive of the Furniture Scheme said: “This was a truly amazing achievement by Craig, Scott and Glen, who I know have some great supporters.
"We are absolutely thrilled that Craig has chosen to raise funds for CasCA, we can’t thank him enough.”
