Latics fanatic John puts his best foot forward for three needy Oldham causes

Warm-hearted lifelong Latics fan John Connelly is currently in the middle of an epic fundraising run as he bids to raise a whopping £5,000 for three needy causes in Oldham.

John is running 200 miles across 30 days to raise money for the Oldham Foodbank, local grassroots football, and to provide Christmas presents for the less fortunate.

The 200 mile distance is the equivalent between John's home in Thetford and Boundary Park.

He is running seven miles per day over 30 days until Saturday, November 26, which had been due to be the date for Latics' home game against Dagenham and Redbridge.

That game has now had to be postponed now, however, due to the Daggers' continued involvement in the FA Cup.

Undeterred, John will continue his pledge to run each day until November 26, after which he has planned an epic 'Foodbank Marathon', to take place on Sunday, December 11.

That run will kick-off at the Oldham Foodbank at 8am, heading via the Rochdale Foodbank, Middleton Foodbank, the Manchester Foodbank in Harpurhey, before ending up back at Boundary Park at approximately 1.15pm.

Latics host Torquay United that afternoon, before and during which there will be a bucket collection.

John is running each day in a different Latics shirt, including match worn shirts.

He will also auction some shirts on his Facebook Page to raise money towards his fundraiser.

John said: "I hadn't been on top form recently and so I had been exercising and managed to lose almost 50 pounds in weight.

"I originally met with Martin from the Oldham Athletic Community Trust, and he suggested that I could support all three fundraising strands and also pump out a message to others regarding sustainable health and wellbeing by running the equivalent distance from my home in East Anglia to Boundary Park (200 miles) as a fund raising effort.

"That is the equivalent of running from Oldham to Manchester every day for 30 days.

"I would be happy if anybody would like to join me running remotely in this fundraising effort for such good local causes in Oldham.

"I do appreciate there are less hills here in East Anglia, which is a bit of an advantage, but the timing of the initiative means that there is some time to get fit before the Christmas festivities and so please do join or if possible please make a donation / contribution via the fundraising website."

You can donate to John's epic fundraiser, until December 18, by simply clicking here

A donations update will be issued at Latics' New Years Day home game versus Notts County.

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