Tony Lormer’s Challenge 4 Cancer 4x4x48 – 30th June 2023

By Paul Smith

Whilst you lovely CrookAC lads and lasses were out running at such events as, Ali Brownlee 5k, Great North 10k, and parkruns, including Ken’s palindrome 202 parkrun celebration run at Hackworth, apologies for my absence as I was otherwise engaged, obviously it was running related, of course.

Yours truly was down in Derbyshire for the weekend, Chesterfield to be exact, to be even more precise, The Technique Stadium, the home of Chesterfield Football Club. Last time I was at Chesterfield, it was to see Hartlepool United take on The Spireites at their old ground at Saltergate, but now they boast a new home, to which I became more than familiar after two days of running, yes, that’s correct, two days, 48 hours of doing what I love doing the most.

The reason was to tackle the challenge of 4x4x48 a feat conceived by David Goggins the former USA Navy Seal now ultrarunner, back in 2021. I have been known for my crazy fundraising long distance epic runs in the past and this did appeal to me. When former Hartlepool United player Tony Lormor was invited as a guest to a match back end of last season (Pools won 2-1 v Swindon Town that day by the way) and he asked myself and son Joseph to accompany him, of course we jumped at the chance, and when he mentioned that he was planning to take on the 4x4x48 at the end of June, my ears pricked up and unknown to him, it was that day that I decided and told Mel that I would travel to Chesterfield to help and support him on this crazy challenge, of course this information was kept a closely guarded secret between myself and Mel.

Also what you need to know about The main man…Anthony Lormor, Anth, Tony, Tones The Lord aka The Experienced Goal Scorer In The Traditional Centre Forward Mould – I first got to know Anth way back in 2000 and he will be the first to tell you all that I would abuse and stalk him from the terraces, when he signed for Pools. He just had that je ne sais quoi about him and I could spot something special in him way back then, not just as a footballer but also as a person and that potential has been brought to fruition and proven over recent years. Tony, after hanging up his boots, fell upon some trying and testing times and his main nemesis of defenders was replaced by a tougher opponent…. Lymphoma Cancer and being the battler that Lord Lormor, is he carried the “Never Say Die” mantra from Hartlepool quite literally into his Cancer fight and has succeeded and survived 5 times and the by-product of his ringing the Cancer free bell on five occasions was him setting up The Affected By Cancer Support Group at Chesterfield Football Club’s Technique Stadium.

The next time I met Mel was Friday morning, we had kept in touch through messages and we arranged to meet at the football ground entrance where I walked towards the man himself with my run kit at the ready and the look on his face was priceless, a huge man hug followed and 30 minutes later we were lined up for the first of 12 leg runs of 4 miles over the next 48 hours. The start times of each leg was planned out as such ….
9am, 1pm, 5pm, 9pm, 1am, 5am, 9am, 1pm, 5pm, 9pm, 1am and the finale, 5am Sunday morning.

Friday 9am 1st leg a nice wee trot – laps around the stadium 13 laps to be precise a nice leg loosened 4.16 miles 51:45 – my aim, to accompany Tony throughout as much as possible, which meant not running at my own pace, which wasn’t a bad thing considering what lay ahead, however, it would be nice to sub 60 minute it all the way. Great support from everyone with additions to the run group which included another Paul who intended doing all 12 legs – so for the 12 runs Tony was indeed a rose between two Paul’s for the challenge duration.

Friday 1pm 2nd leg (4.12miles 53:46) – pretty much the same as the previous run 4 hours earlier, high spirits, camaraderie and great support especially from The Affected By Cancer Support Group, their upbeat and at times no filters craic and banter was a sight and sound to behold, these people have battled and are battling and are aware of their end result, their attitude certainly put my knacking knobbly knees into perspective and were an immense help especially during the latter legs where the going got tough and Anth, Paul and myself really had to dig in.

Friday 5pm 3rd leg – Once again laps around the outside of the stadium, glorious tarmac, relatively flat and maybe unforgiving on the joints but completed another in a time of 53:31 for 4.18 miles almost spot on pace as the previous run. More supporters to-ing and fro-ing to the start and finish and good luck messages appeared along with mantras chalked upon the road to help us running around and around and around, running with a football theme isn’t knew to me as some may know. The North East football grounds run of The Toon’s St. James Park, Sunderland’s Stadium Of Light, HUFC’s Victoria Park, Boro’s Riverside and back to Pools in time for kick off v Burton Albion Dec 21st 2014 to name one and that insane 30 mile around Consett AFC’s Centre Circle dressed as Bobby Moore to name another. This challenge was right up my boulevard.

Friday 9pm 4th and final leg for the day – returned from nearby Premier Inn, our “digs” for the duration, although sometime later in the challenge I got my head down at the stadium. One location was Chester’s soft play Den and the other a leather settee in a room adjacent to one of the executive hospitality boxes. …anyway I digress, I returned following a sumptuous beer battered haddock, chips and peas washed down with a pint of Doombar to keep the drink streak ticking over notch up day 2,470 of having at least one alcoholic drink every day🍺. To mix things up a bit Mr. Lormor decided to have a change of scenery and decided to have a look down by the canal, so it was to be a pleasant 2 mile out and back run along the canal tow path and cycle path. 4.01 miles done in 54:57

Saturday 1st July 1am – a new day, a new month and another run for leg number 5, another 4 mile and another mix it up tactic, although we found ourselves back on our old stomping ground of CFC’s Stadium outskirts it was decided to run in the opposite direction to previous. I was warmed up from my walk back from Premier Inn after grabbing an almighty 50 minutes kip. We set off and thought we would all manage admirably due to the fact this was our first dark early hours run, newfangledom didn’t transpire, in fact it was a plod for us, us being a small running group Tony, us two Paul’s and young Sophie who had a lovely spring her step and a member of CFC staff who looked, well, was actually super fit. They seemed to enjoy their 13 laps, the three amigos struggled but we got around, feeling drained. Replenishment and ice packs on knees for Anth and I before I disappeared into Chester’s Play Den with Mel and her parents, Jo and Ian, where we enjoyed the soft play area and sliding down slides, a highlight for sure, then another attempt to sleep, after our latest run of 4.01 mile in 54:14

Saturday 5am a return to the banks of the canal, get this one done and out of the way and we’ve hit half way. We did just that and it was a struggle, Anth was looking every inch the athlete…albeit a heavyweight boxer in the 15th round, but he slugged it out and he won with a technical knockout to claim the 6th leg out of 12 – rest & recovery now major important for our hero.

Saturday 9am means one thing…. yes parkrun and I headed off with the good lady to nearby Poolsbrook parkrun, a location very similar to Herrington Country Park. It was three laps of a large lake occupied by gaggles of geese, white swans and 202 parkrunners, I collected my finish token but before scanning I kept on running to hit the 4 miles before the barcode scan to record my 576th parkrun. A parkrun time of 36:27 but a 4.14 mile in 48:59 – this was celebrated with a breakfast sandwich- sausage, bacon and fried egg at the café before returning to the football ground. Anth and Paul and A. N. Other had completed their 7th 4x4x48 leg explaining that it was a really hard struggle and they missed a noise in their ears, a noise that they had become accustomed to on the previous runs, joviality, encouragement, stories and anecdotes…. whatever were they on about? Who were they on about? 😉

Saturday 1pm leg 8/12 normal service was resumed, chatter, banter, craic, frivolity was soon restored to the running groups ears from yours truly, never say die motormouth haha! This time it was back to the canal and buoyed by my slightly quicker tempo at parkrun I stretched out the legs a bit more on this one and upped the pace, I felt good, I felt strong and as we passed runners supporting on this leg, inspiration and motivation was high for everyone. I returned to the ground in 51:31 a distance of 4.07 and then I returned to find Anth and Paul. Myself and others went back for him and in an underpass we chanted ‘There’s only one Tony Lormor” the subway acoustics echoed the sentiment into Tony’s H’angus like ears and helped him back home, before he reached the welcoming party I suggested he gave a wave of acknowledgement before heading directly to the showers, do not pass go, do not collect £200 …if it can happen to Paula Radcliffe it can happen to anyone, that’s all I’m saying on the matter.

Saturday 5pm 9/12 legs Houston ….we have a problem…. due to an invasion of PINK… 3,000 fundraising walkers descended on the Technique Stadium for the Sparkle Walk for the local Hospice, our usual “outside of the stadium circuits” were off limits. Treadmill, aka dreadmill in my opinion, was mentioned – no way was I or could I bring myself to running in a gym for 4 minutes never mind 4 miles on a conveyor belt. The grey matter went into overdrive and I messaged Anth from soaking in my Premier Inn bubble bath, suggesting the possibility of running inside the stadium making sure to keep off the green green grass of the pitch and do laps pitch side? Anth loved this suggestion and after seeking permission and the go ahead that’s what we did. Once again this was right up my street, running and footy related…plus it was flat and the ambience was to give Tony and his running entourage a vibe and before we knew it, 20 or so laps were completed…. 4.01 miles 51:44 my personal time, Tony was slowing down but digging deep and more importantly still moving …. forward.

Saturday 9pm 10th leg Still inside the stadium whilst the Sparkle Walkers were outside – what a surreal atmosphere it was, the music including NSYNC and Ultra naté and countdown to the start with added fireworks definitely lifted us tired fundraising runners spirits in low levels of light, the only thing we had to light our way was pairs of flashing bunny rabbits ears and the moonlight, headtorches are so last millennium- 4.04 mile done in 56:56 another sub hour and only two more 4 milers to go…. can we do it? This leg, by the way, I was fuelled with a pint to wash down a mouth-watering carbonara and Tiramisu dessert from Italian Chef Vito at the fabulous eating venue called The Batch House, another highlight from the weekend.

Sunday 1am the penultimate leg and, just for a change, we ran pitch side laps in the opposite direction to keep it fresh and have a change of scenery haha! Support from the stands sparse but evident and important I could bellow across the pitch to Anth and the others – took me back to those matchdays of 2000 when my shouts would echo from the terraces onto the pitch in my Lormor Lormor obsessive day when he wore the Pools shirt. 4.10 mile done another sub hour of 53:56 delighted considering my right leg was giving me so much grief – sciatica? Anth’s goal was to complete and he was a trojan throughout and around about 60 minute mark on these recent legs, he certainly wasn’t on his last legs and surely his Mel joining him alongside was a huge help.

5am Sunday 2nd July the 12th and final leg – the glory leg had brought a decent band of supporters and runners to the stadium see Our Tone over the line…. which he did indeed do with a smile. 4.00 miles in 55:14 for me which was pleasing and satisfying for sure but the heart was pumping with pride for Anth. He had done it and without him I wouldn’t have had the opportunity but he had done not just for himself but for others, for awareness, for funds. If anyone knows what it’s like it’s Tony, he’s been through the mill… to hell and back x 5 he’s also just been through the mill and hell and back x 12 with this challenge. He will be the first to profess that he is no way a runner, yet had had completed a challenge of epic proportions and I was delighted to play a small part alongside him and his cause on this massive achievement. He crossed a finish line of star bunting ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐and champagne corks were popped, alcoholic for the drinkers non-alcoholic for Tony and a wee speech was made after completion by … well …you can guess who. Sometime notes aren’t required for speeches especially when the words come directly from the heart 💓

Anthony Lormor you are indeed some boy and it’s a pleasure and a privilege to know you even if you have waited 23 years to seek revenge and get your own back on me for the stalking and abuse shenanigans by making me run 48 miles in 48 hours.

See you and the lovely Chesterfield Football Club people sooner rather than later Monday August 28th Spireites v Pools

Paul.