A Longton Cricket Club all-rounder has completed back-to-back marathons in the space of two days to help fundraise for a popular Staffordshire sporting initiative that is raising money for the NHS in its fight against the coronavirus.
Luke Woodward from Trentham Lakes decided he would run to every North Staffordshire & South Cheshire Premier League (NSSC) Premier Division cricket club for fundraising scheme Cricketers Against Covid-19: Smash The Tash which invites lovers of the sport to grow facial hair for the National Health Service.
Endless amounts of people have gone above and beyond this, with many taking on gruelling exercise efforts to raise money for cause, which now has brought in over £18,000.
Luke is the latest cricketer to complete an incredible feat after running a total of 54.8 miles across Saturday and Sunday (May 16 & 17) to all 12 NSSC Premier Division club grounds in aid of raising money for the cause, starting and finishing at Longton Cricket Club.
“It’s something I’ll never forget, the amount of support I’ve had from when I organised it two weeks ago has been great,” he told Sport in Staffs.
“The support has been brilliant, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without it.”
Although he said he was “a little sore” following the weekend runs, Luke said he was “feeling good” and admitted: “I’ve been thinking about it since, and I can’t believe what I’ve done!”
The 27-year-old, who had been training for the Manchester Marathon in April before it was cancelled due to Covid-19, explained how the idea of visiting each ground on foot came about.
“I saw that everyone had been doing their own challenges for Smash The Tash and thought of the idea when I was decorating my bedroom,” he said.
“I sat down and had a look of how far it was to each ground and what kind of route I would take and it came to around 54 miles. I spoke to Longton’s first team captain Eddie Jones about it and doing it back-to-back for more of a challenge. He agreed and we both had a look at the route.”
Luke went to to say that he covered a full marathon on the first day, running 26.2 miles all the way to Stone Cricket Club, clocking a time of 3 hours 52 minutes before running more further the next day and covering 28.6 miles in 4 hours 32 minutes.
Luke continued: “I felt fine on day one, there was no real struggle, I took it nice and steady. On the second day, local runner Simon Ford – who runs for the City of Stoke – met me at Whitmore and ran with me for the ten miles he planned to.
“We got all the way to Porthill Cricket Club and said he’d do the rest of the way with me. I could not have done it without him.”
This is not the first time Luke has shown his steely determination for charity, running the London Marathon in 2018 for a cancer charity despite only having two weeks of proper training after picking up a knee tendon injury just months before the race meaning he was not able to run for 10 weeks.
That time, he managed to raise more than £3,000 for the charity and now he has already raised nearly £2,000 for the Smash The Tash campaign following his weekend feat.
“Smash The Tash has been dead supportive,” Luke stated. “I wanted to represent my club and thought this was the best way I can do it for everyone.
“We’re in difficult times and we are not going to be playing cricket any time soon. Smash The Tash is a great thing for people to be doing and has got the whole cricket community together and working with each other.
“It’s not just cricket too, everybody from outside and around the area are raising money for the frontline of the NHS and so this is just a way of saying thank you and giving them a helping hand.”
Luke said he was very thankful for the support he has had throughout his fundraiser.
“I’d like to thank the guys at Smash The Tash, the guys at Longton Cricket Club, my girlfriend Alex Aicken, Simon Ford, my family, my friends and everybody who has supported me.”
Longton Cricket Club told Sport in Staffs: “Everyone at Longton Cricket Club are very proud of what Luke has managed to achieve this weekend. We were in no doubt that he could do it.
“He really is one of life’s good guys and all the praise that he is receiving is more than justified. We are sure his actions will inspire others to do something amazing whilst they may have a little more time on their hands.
“He has put his body through a massive challenge and for him to raise money for the NHS I’m sure he will think it’s been worth it. Now we need him well rested in time for if we do get the chance and play some cricket this summer. Once again from all at LCC, well done Luke.”
David Fairbanks, who with Craig Barker and David Edwards set up the Smash The Tash initiative, told Sport in Staffs: “The weekend was all about ‘The Running Man’ – Luke Woodward.
“Running one marathon is an achievement in itself but doing two in two days is just ridiculous. The support he’s had and superlatives to describe his efforts have been have been off the scale.
“He’s inspired more people and cricket clubs to start their own #smashthetash initiative which is what we want to to encourage. Our intentions from day one have always been to help in anyway we can.
“Whether it’s doctors or nurses, families, cricketers ,everyone really. Woody efforts definitely raised eyebrows outside of cricket that’s for sure. He’s an absolute credit to himself. We are all immensely proud of him and it’s something to remember in years to follow.”
To donate to Smash The Tash, click here.
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