Britain's blue T-shirt: marathon man still running in a town near you

Danny Watson is entering the final stages after running at least 26.2 miles every day since Wednesday September 23, when he set off from Brighton Pier,.

He eventually finishes in Hull next Thursday, October 22, hoping to have raised hundreds of pounds for CatZero - a charity which uses sailing as an integral part of its personal development and change programmes for young people, unemployed adults, lone parents and veterans.

When he reaches the finish line in his blue CatZero T-shirt he will have covered a total distance across England of more than 800-miles.

Today (Friday) with more than a million steps already completed, he continues to run through Lincolnshire, going through Spalding and up to near Fosdyke. And then he enters

his countdown to the finishing line:

The route includes:

Day 25 (Saturday): Up through Wyberton and Boston to Friskney, near Wainfleet;

Day 26 (Sunday): He passes through Skegness and Ingoldmells to the eastern edge of the

Lincolnshire Wolds;

Day 27 (Monday): The route winds its way back to the coast and Chapel St Leonards, going

inland again to Alford and heading north;

Day 28 (Tuesday): Back out to the coast again and through Mablethorpe, up to Manby to

Covenham;

Day 29 (Wednesday): On to Grimsby where he will visit the south Humber office of his

charity CatZero, passing through North Thoresby and Humberston;

Day 30 (Thursday) THE FINAL, running back to Hull, and the HQ of charity CatZero.

From Brighton, Danny’s journey has taken him through central London and up through Cambridgeshire. He first crossed the Lincolnshire border in late September on his 26.2-mile daily route into North East Lincolnshire continuing across the Humber Bridge and into Hull.

He then ran over to North Yorkshire and across the North York Moors to the north east coast.

With an initial plan to run the 800-miles to John O’Groats changed due to the continued covid threat, he came back south across the Humber Bridge to complete a full loop of the

huge county of Lincolnshire.

In aid of CatZero, the leading Humber-based independent charity he helped to launch 11 years ago, Danny has a personal fund-raising target of £35,000.

A twice-round-the-world sailor, Danny is the charity’s Director of Sailing. CatZero uses sailing as an integral part of its personal development and change programmes for young people, unemployed adults, lone parents and veterans. More recently it has launched its hugely successful Full Families programmes in the Humber region.

With headline sponsors Yorkshire-based Linbrooke Services on board, Danny’s aim on this, his 50 th birthday year, has been to ensure CatZero’s message of support, inspiration and

hope is spread the length of the country.

“The ability for CatZero to help people effect lasting personal change has been proven since our launch 11 years ago with hundreds of people of all ages and abilities assisted back into

long-term employment or training,” said Danny.

“Such support will be needed more than ever in the coming months and years as people face uncertain times in many areas of their lives. There has never a better time to raise

awareness of how our charity is able to offer that support,” he added.

The 30in30 experience is a grand finale to seven consecutive years of personal challenges undertaken by Danny and other CatZero supporters. In total more than £80,000 has been

raised in that time.

It is hard to believe, but Danny has not always been a fitness fanatic, in fact he couldn’t run a mile eight years ago when he was warned he was on the verge of obesity.

That kick-started his weight loss and healthy lifestyle. Following his father’s death in 2013,

Danny and his sister, Nicola, decided to run a marathon together in his memory and that began the seven- year challenge.

“I used to be three-stone heavier and actually it was my dad and sister Nicola who were the runners,” he said.

“When you are taking on these challenges, or any form of endurance exercise, it really is all about attitude. I now see it as a privilege to be able to train and undertake these

adventures,” he added.

“Working with vulnerable families has affected me personally especially as I now have a family. I have used the principles we have developed in CatZero in changing my own life. I

am passionate about the work we do with children, young people, and their families creating lasting change.”

Linbrooke Services, which is proud to be supporting such an amazing challenge, is joined by other key sponsors - Adams and Green, ARCO, Beal Homes, Clipper Ventures PLC, Harris

Lacey Swain, Hodson Architects, Horncastle Group, Informed Financial Planning, Marr, Pipers Crisps and the Sewell Group.

It is also supported by W A Horncastle Charitable Trust and the Scarborough Group Foundation.

To donate, Danny’s 30in30 Virgin Money Giving page is: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/DannyWatson30in30Follow his progress and find out how you can help at www.catzero.org or on Instagram,

@dannywatsoncatzero