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Post by rugbytoffee on Apr 30, 2024 10:53:11 GMT
Everton Performance Coach Jack Dowling has raised more than £75,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support by running 26 marathons in 26 weeks.
The incredible challenge started in Crosby, Merseyside, on October 22nd and finished with the London Marathon on April 24th. Dowling's 26 marathons were the equivalent of running from Liverpool to Berlin.
The practitioner, who has worked with Everton’s first team since February 2022, took on the challenge after his brother Tom was diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer in 2022. Tom was there to support during many of the stages of ‘Project 26:26’, before passing away on March 21st, just before Jack embarked on his 21st marathon.
Dowling was given a standing ovation by the Goodison Park crowd when he appeared on the pitch before last week's Merseyside Derby. Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish presented Dowling and his father with a Liverpool shirt bearing Tom’s name.
Afterwards, Dowling told TGG: “It was fantastic, a really nice moment for me and the family and a nice moment for my dad, who has been behind me all the way, in the van, beeping if people are in the way, and has been a great support. To get Tom’s shirt from his hero was fantastic."
After his side's 2-0 win, Everton manager Sean Dyche described Dowling's feat as “brilliant and inspirational" and the Performance Coach said he had received great support from both the club and wider community.
“I’ve been called the Forrest Gump of Crosby and the support has been unbelievable - people coming out on bikes, people running, people standing on the road clapping, people gathering at the finish lines. It’s been brilliant.
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