Buckie Thistle on the road to Hampden as players, management and coaching staff commit to 24-hour running challenge in aid of five local charities
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
'WE'RE on our way to Hampden' could be the cry from Buckie Thistle's players and coaching staff this weekend.
For the Jags have signed up for a 24-hour running challenge in aid of five charities in their local community.
The Buckie players, management team and coaches are aiming to cover a total distance of 319 kilometres, the equivalent of travelling from Victoria Park to the national stadium in Glasgow.
They are being sponsored for their runs, and the money raised will be split between Buckie Cancer Link, Buckie Salvation Army, Friends of Seafield Hospital, Parklands Care Home and Netherha Care Home.
Already the club have broken through their £1000 fundraising target ahead of the start of the challenge.
Donate to the challenge here.
Beginning with young striker Marcus Goodall at 7pm on Friday, each member of the relay team will run for a full hour and record their distance covered on the Strava app.
The virtual baton will then be passed on to the next runner, and all 24 hours of the day will be covered by the time Sam Morrison completes his 60 minutes at 7pm on Saturday.
Manager Graeme Stewart isn't on the official list of timed runs but he will still do his own hour of running in his home area.
Assistant boss Lewis MacKinnon, coaches Iain MacRae, Darren Strong and Frank McGettrick will do their bit as is former player and coach Stephen 'Mara' Bruce, who has committed to run in his working base in Houston, USA.
Even star striker John McLeod, currently on the road to recovery after missing two-and-a-half years of action due to a hip injury, will run a slot.
"We’ve got enough players to do it that I don’t have to be officially involved in the timing but I’m still doing an hour, even though I did one (on Monday) and I was in agony." said Stewart. "We’ve included the young lads because I don’t want them missing out.
"Everyone gets an hour and we are trying to go from Buckie to Hampden. It was Hamish’s (Munro) idea and it should be a bit of fun.
"We're are all doing it, even John McLeod who can’t run for an hour yet but he can do some.
"As a club we thought it was important to do something for the community and local charities. (Committee members) Lynne Sutherland and Graeme Tallis picked the charities and it's great causes to support."
With nursing homes being particularly vulnerable during the Covid-19 pandemic, it was fitting that two of Buckie's facilities stand to benefit from the Jags' effort.
"I visited one of the nursing homes with Iain MacRae," added Stewart. "There’s a lot of people at the club who know people in the homes, even family members. They are important to the community and there’s a lot of familiarity and it's close to the people of Buckie.
"The club has been keen for players to make appearances at the homes. Callum Murray did a recent visit and we want to support these excellent causes."
Fans can follow the players and coaches' efforts on the club's Facebook page.
The running order is as follows:
Friday, 7pm Marcus Goodall; 8pm Fergus Edwards; 9pm Joe McCabe; 10pm Shaun Wood; 11pm Lucas Davidson; Midnight Jack Walker; 1am Lee Herbert; 2am Sam Robertson; 3am Shaun Carrol; 4am Kevin Fraser; 5am Jack Murray; 6am Sam Pugh; 7am Sam Urquhart; 8am Craig Cowie; 9am Steven Ross; 10am Mark Mclauchlan; 11am Scott Adams; 12pm Hamish Munro; 1pm Andrew MacAskill; 2pm Daniel Bell; 3pm Callum Murray; 4pm Kyle MacLeod; 5pm Declan Milne; 6pm Sam Morrison.
