Brakes ace Jack is all set for a marathon effort

Leamington star Jack Edwards will be pounding the pavements this weekend to help raise money for charity.
Leamington's Jack Edwards will be running a marathon this weekendLeamington's Jack Edwards will be running a marathon this weekend
Leamington's Jack Edwards will be running a marathon this weekend

The Brakes midfielder is set to run a marathon in the local area with all proceeds going towards former Leamington player Morton Titterton’s fund for the Brain Tumour Charity.

Titterton was diagnosed with an intrinsic tumour of the spinal cord in 2012 – a grade 2 ependymoma (a brain tumour growing at the top of his spinal cord).

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After an early diagnosis and immediate surgery performed by Munchi Choksey and a long course of radiotherapy, the full removal of the tumour was achieved.

Titterton was set to run the London Marathon on April 26 this year but the event has been provisionally rescheduled to October 4 due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Edwards, however, will be covering 26.2 miles on Sunday on a route starting and finishing in Balsall Common.

And while he is delighted to be raising money for such a good cause, the Brakes man admitted the fitness required for an endurance feat is a far cry away from what he is used to.

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Edwards said: “Morton was manager of Stratford Town when I played for their youth team and my dad built up a bit of a relationship with him and he was pretty good at advising me on what to do next in my football career. He’s always been a good guy.

“He was only in his late 30s when he got diagnosed but he now raises money and he was due to be running the London Marathon and also doing a bucket collection at one of our home games towards the end of the season but, of course, with everything going on the fundraising has had to be put on hold a bit.

“I heard him being interviewed on a podcast done by Leamington fans and it gave me a bit of a reminder about it and I was looking for a cause to run for so I decided to get in contact with him and he was very excited for me to help in the small way I can.

“The lockdown has been a really good period to dedicate time to the training and it has helped distract my mind from everything that’s going on in the world. So I have quite enjoyed the training.

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“I am possibly a couple of weeks behind where I would have liked to have been. I probably would have liked to do another 30-35km run before this weekend.

“The fitness is completely different. I probably underestimated how difficult it is to run this sort of distance.

“Whilst I am playing football week in and week out and training hard, it’s a completely different fitness to what I am used to.

“It’s been a hard slog and now it’s come around really quickly.

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“I have a couple of mates in London who are doing the same thing so we have been training in tandem and we are all sharing each other’s experiences.”

Edwards’ route will take in the Kenilworth and Warwick areas and he admitted he will be relying on family and friends to help him get through the distance.

“I hope I will have a few mates and a few family members who will help me with a few drinks breaks and fuel stations,” he added.

“I will be relying on them to cheer me on and give me some fuel to keep me going!”

Anyone who would like to donate money can do so by visiting the website https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/morton-titterton

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