‘Sheffield’ trek for iron man Steve (From Knutsford Guardian)

‘Sheffield’ trek for iron man Steve

3:30pm Tuesday 9th February 2010

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AN IT manager will be running the equivalent of a car journey from Knutsford to Sheffield on March 5.

But Steve Wilkinson will be standing on the same spot as he started after his 62 mile trek.

For the 39-year-old is to run an ‘ultra marathon’ on a treadmill for a gruelling 12 hours.

Steve, who works at Barclays Bank at Radbroke Hall, near Knutsford, said: “I’ve done half marathons, marathons and a triathlon.

“Now we’ve just had a gym introduced at work so we came up with this ridiculous idea.”

Steve, who has run marathons in London, Dublin and Rotterdam and an Iron Man triathlon in Dorset, says pounding the treadmill will be quite a different experience.

“Boredom’s a factor,” added Steve, who will be running with his work mate Tom Neill.

“But that’s part of the challenge. We won’t have the elements to keep things interesting.

“It’ll be a bit different to the encouragement you get at the London Marathon which is phenomenal.”

Instead of the cheers of a huge crowd, Steve will only have the gym’s TV and his thoughts to keep him going.

He will start his challenge at 7am and will not stop until around 7pm apart from short water and food breaks.

Steve and Tom are hoping to raise £5,000 for Help For Heroes, the charity that supports servicemen and women wounded in the line of duty.

He said: “It’s tragic when people come home killed and equally so when people lose limbs and the challenge they face.

“We wanted to support a charity that would be in everyone’s minds. Most people support the soldiers regardless of their views about whether they should be there or not.”

Steve has been training by running around 50 miles a week.

But he told the Guardian that the mental barrier is more difficult to smash than the physical one.

Steve added: “You’ve got to convince yourself that you can carry on and the fact that we have so many people backing us is the incentive.

“When it gets to the point where you need that extra push you need that.”

To pledge your support to Steve and Tom, visit justgiving.co.uk/tomandstevetreadmillultra.

Barclays will also be match funding the duo’s total up to £1,500.

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