Long-distance runner Nathan Richardson was at Priestfield Stadium in Gillingham this weekend, as part of an epic challenge to run around all 92 grounds in the English football league.

The 28-year-old ex soldier and mechanical engineer started running from his home in Manchester in March, but the 2,500 mile challenge was delayed by coronavirus lockdown.

Now up and running again, The Run Around the Grounds has taken him around the Northwest, down through the Midlands, into Wales, around the Southwest and along the south coast to the Southeast, arriving in Gillingham on Sunday afternoon.

Nathan is raising money for The Super Joshua Wilson Brain Tumor Charity, and mental health charity Mind - and said he had been inspired to start running because of his own battles with depression.

"In January 2019 I was feeling down, depressed and unhappy with my weight," he writes on his website . "This was compounded by the loss of two close family members in the space of a year and I turned to running as an escape.

"I had only run as far as 13 miles before but to improve my mental and physical health I decided I would run the Manchester marathon in April of the same year."

Nathan spoke to the Medway Messenger from Dartford, a day after his visit to Gillingham, and explained how he'd soon stated to see the positive effects after his first marathon.
"I did the second a week later - I got the bug", he said. "I did an ultra marathon five weeks later, and then I came across a guy who ran to every away game Burnley played last season. I thought that was a good idea and wondered if anyone had done all the clubs, and they hadn't - nobody's done it as far as I'm aware.

"There's people that do it over a season, but nobody had done this."

The run has been made doubly tough by the fact Nathan is carrying all his own kit, eating and sleeping wherever he can - but he says he is feeling positive and aiming to finish by Christmas.

"I'm almost 1,000 miles in now," he added. "I should arrive at Crystal Palace tomorrow, which will be my 37th ground.

"It's getting a bit more complicated in London with a bit of zigzagging around.

"It's been tough, I'm not going to lie. The positive thing is I think I've got a lot of the hard bits out of the way.

"I had to run across Dartmoor in the week we had the heatwave, and I was camping out as well so that was tricky. Wales was really tough. I've still got a lot to do and it's not going to be plain sailing.

"I've been taking a few breaks to recover and I'm getting their slowly."

Follow Nathan's journey and donate to the cause via his website www.nathrich.com

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