Owls Under-18 manager Andy Holdsworth completed the London Marathon earlier this month!
The academy coach headed to the capital to run the demanding 42+km distance and all for a cause close to his heart.
Raising much-needed funds for Wakefield Hospice, Andy set a target of £1,500 and smashed it all ends up with a personal haul of over £2,500 and as a group with four others, a figure closer to £14,000.
The former Huddersfield midfielder had plenty to cope with on the day, suffering a knee injury with eight miles still to run but he overcame adversity to cross the finish line.
He told swfc.co.uk: “It was tough. I ended up running part of the course with a guy who was diagnosed with MND 13 months ago. I got to around 10k and met him, he was an incredible person.
“Since his diagnosis he has run five marathons and was making this one his last – I lost him at 30k after he ran off after my knee had blown up!
“But yes, it was a great experience, mentally very tough. They say the crowd gets you through it and they do in certain parts and it’s something I recommend doing - although I will never be doing it again!
“The last seven miles I ended walking, plodding, crawling, walking again but I thought I must finish it because all the training that you do is the toughest bit. My little boy said make sure you bring that medal home! I got to about a mile and a half out and they have what are called ‘pacers’.
“Pacers ran past me and they are set to run the marathon in five hours so you can gauge where you are. I thought I wanted to run it in less than five so got in front of them and they told me not to worry because they were 50 seconds ahead of time! I ended up jogging the last mile in pain so my body is in bits but we managed to raise some money for Wakefield Hospice which is great.
“Wakefield Hospice is a place where one of my grandparents was and a friend of ours before he passed away, it’s a local charity hospice to me. There wasn’t just me, there were five of us raising money and collectively we have raised over £14k which is pleasing.
“If it’s on your bucket list or you’re not a runner but want to give it a go then it’s worth it. I’d recommend getting a training partner, someone to run with but the whole day is chaotic seeing everybody come together.
“I think I ended up finishing around 4:00pm and was back home for 8:00pm. As I got back home my wife looked at the London Marathon app and the last person had just finished at 8! Pitch black outside as well and they were cleaning up the streets behind them as they crossed the finishing line!
“It's a run for everyone. I said to the staff here I’m not doing any running, any conditioning work now!”
On the pitch, Holdsworth gave a quick reflection of the season so far for the 18s, who have posted one win, one draw and three narrow defeats.
“Results-wise not great but performances have been really good,” he said.
“They have been asked to implement different things and they are doing well, the thing letting us down at the minute is the final third stuff, finishing games off.
“The last five games we have dominated, had a lot of final third entries, box entries, but the final product has not been at the standard we want.
“Performances have been pleasing, results not so but it often happens where you can’t get both together and if you do, it’s the holy grail so we’ll keep working.”