Shropshire Star

Running man Nathan clocks up miles on trip round the grounds

An amateur athlete with a heart for community is clocking up thousands of miles by running to all 92 English football league clubs to raise money for charity.

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Nathan Richardson has done almost 300 miles making stops in the region at Shrewsbury Town, Wolves, West Brom and Walsall and calling into AFC Telford which is in the national league for good measure.

The 28-year-old Manchester United fan initially set off from Old Trafford on his challenge to raise £9,000 for the mental health body MIND and for Super Josh on March 7.

After a good start in the north west he was forced to suspend his run on March 22 due to the coronavirus lockdown.

The former soldier has now resumed the mammoth challenge which has so far seen him run club to club to Manchester City, Oldham, Salford, Bolton, Wigan, Everton, Liverpool, Tranmere, Macclesfield, Stoke City, Crew, Port Vale, Shrewsbury, AFC Telford,Wolves and West Brom.

He plans to run to Aston Villa and Birmingham City this week.

Nathan Richardson, 28, is running to at least 92 football grounds to raise money for charity arriving at Bucks Head

Nathan says: "So far I've done around 250 miles of running on the challenge and there are quite a few clubs in this area so I will have done about 20 per cent of my list by the end of the week.

"I've organised it myself. The clubs have been very helpful. They have seen me on social media and people are offering to put me up for a night or providing transport which has been fantastic.

"I ran from Port Vale to Shrewsbury last week then from there I stopped at AFC Telford United although it wasn't on my list, but I was passing. They let me in to take some photos which was nice.

Nathan at Shrewsbury Town

"On Saturday I ran ran from there to Molineux along the A41 where some people from a running club joined me. The Wolves staff came outside to greet me. They were the first team to give me a round of applause. I also got a goody bag.

"The running has been tough due to the changes in terrain, I am making up the routes as I go along. Some of the roads have pavements and some don't. The weather is also an issue as it changes a lot. Week before last it was very hot, last week it started raining."

He has so far collected more than £2,500.

To follow Nathan's challenge see www.facebook.com/Runaroundthegrounds/