16 SCUNTHORPE TELEGRAPH Saturday, April 4, 2009 visit our website www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk

Colleague’s tragedyinspired keen runner

Marathon man will be racing to help ward where pal’s wife diedA CORUS worker is steppingout of the steelworks to poundthe streets of London and raisecash in memory of his pal’swife, who died after a 10-yearbattle with breast cancer.Neil Gray (38), of Driffil Way, Win-

terton, will run the London Mara-thon later this month in aid of Ward18 at Scunthorpe General Hospital, acause close to the heart of his work-mate, Paul Hope, who lost his wifeDiane there in November 2006.Neil said: “Paul has turned

something so tragic into positivityfor the hospital, and I want to do theLondon Marathon for him and thecharity.”He added: “I wanted to raise cash

for something local.“As I work with Paul Hope, who

lost his wife to breast cancer. I ap-proached him as he has a lot to dowith Ward 18, and he’s helped me doit for them.”Neil has raised more than £500 so

far with sponsorship from family,friends and colleagues.But in his quest to fulfil a mara-

thon dream and raise stacks of cash,Neil pushed himself too far duringtraining and sustained a calf strain.But he’s now back on track with

training and is taking care this timeround.“Training’s going all right now,”

he said.“(A few weeks) ago I got a calf

strain but it’s a bit better now – I’mstill running.“I did a long training session on the

Sunday and Iwent out running againthe following day and pulled my calfmuscle.“I can’t afford to get another injury.

Imust have got carried awaywith thetraining.”Neil has been eating up the miles

with theWintertonRunningClub forthe past five years in a bid to keep fitafter he stopped playing football.He trains with the club on Wed-

nesday and Sunday mornings.

“I’ve done a half-marathon beforeand I usually do the 10-mile run atWinterton Show,” he said.“I’ve always wanted to do the Lon-

don Marathon after watching it ontelevision.“I’ve been doing 15 miles every

other day with a longer run once aweek.”He added: “I hope to do the mara-

thon in under four hours.“I’m being careful, watching what

I’m eating, and I will be doing lots ofstretches before and when I comeback.”Paul Hope said: “I think it’s ab-

solutely brilliant. Since he said hewould do it his friend has been af-fected by an illness so it reiteratesthe situation – it’s great that he’sdoing it for Ward 18.”The inaugural London Marathon

was launched in March 1981 withmore than 7,700 runners.Last year, 34,497 runners crossed

the line, and since 1981 it is estimatedmore than £200-million has beenraised for charities worldwide.This year, the marathon takes

place on Sunday, April 26.

by Selina Maycockselina.maycock@gsmg.co.uk

Paul has turnedsomething sotragic intopositivity for thehospital, and Iwant to do theLondonMarathon forhim and thecharity

“

Neil Gray

Orienteering exercise will test youngsters’ skillsA MIDNIGHT orienteeringexercise designed to testyoung people’s skills to thelimit is making a comeback.Teenagers from North Lin-

colnshire are taking part inthe Humber Night Challenge

event in the East Yorkshirecountryside, in a bid to boosttheir self-confidence andteamwork skills.Originally known as Nite

Pilot, the scheme began in1988 and ran until 2000.

It ran again in 2007 when itbecame known as Night Chal-lenge.Teams will be challenged in

endurance, commitment,teamwork, leadership,map-reading and first aid.

Participants will navigatethrough the arduous terrainof an undisclosed East Ridinglocation, performing varioustasks.They will arrive at 7pm to-

night and enjoy a hot mealbefore setting off on astaggered start between 8pmand midnight.PCSOs, special constables,

Fire Brigade officers and theArmy will all be on hand tohelp run the event and thechallenges posed to the par-ticipants.The winning team will re-

ceive a prize and every personwho completes the challengewill receive an award.It is the first time Hum-

berside Police has run the ori-enteering event, and fundingwill come from the force, theTribune Trust and Humber-side Fire & Rescue service.Tesco, the Scout Associ-

ation, Humberside Fire&Res-cue and the Army are all sup-porting the event and helpingon the night.

A Humberside Policespokeswoman said: “Humber-side Police is thrilled to betaking on this event and hope-fully it will become a regularevent on our calendar.“It brings out the strengths

and skills all young peoplehave, and they learn a lot fromit.“I think it will motivate

them to become more in-volved in some of the activ-ities they try out on thenight.”All the youngsters taking

part have received training toprepare them for the chal-lenge.Four teams of five girls and

boys from each division ofHumberside Police will betaking part – one from thisregion, as well as North EastLincolnshire, Hull and theEast Riding.The youngsters became

involved in the event throughthe youth clubs they attend.

PARENTS can get a little help-ing hand this Easter to keeptheir kids active and healthythanks to Asda, which isoffering free sports sessionsfor kids during the school hol-idays.The supermarket chain’s

Sporting Chance sessions arebeing rolled out across NorthLincolnshire and the rest ofthe UK, giving youngstersaccess to at least five differentsports sessions for freewithina 10-mile radius of every Asdastore.The scheme aims to ensure

sport is accessible and afford-able for families on a tightbudget, and gearing kids upfor holidays packed withactivity.All parents need to do is pop

into their local Asda store andpick up a Sporting Chancevoucher from the checkoutsor download one fromwww.asda-sport-ingchance.co.ukAlternatively, call 0845 366

6979 to search for the nearestsessions. Then call the sessionprovider direct to book aplace.

Free sportsessions

STEEL production in the UKhas droppednearly 50 per centyear-on-year, as output at theCorus Scunthorpe plant hit a50-year low.Latest figures from the

World Steel Association showthe global fall in production inFebruary was 22 per cent.But in the UK the drop was

47 per cent – down from1.17-million tonnes to 619,000tonnes.Other European countries

showing significant but lesserpercentage falls include Ger-many (down 31.6 per cent),Italy (down 39.9 per cent),France (down 35.7 per cent)and Spain (down 35.7 percent).Larger falls in European

countries included those inBelgium (down 74.5 per cent)and Romania (down 67.4 percent).The USA dropped 54.2 per

cent and Japan 44.2 per cent,but China and Iran increasedoutput.

Production ofsteel decreases

A CHARITY coffee morningwill be held on Wednesday inaid of Scunthorpe’s LindseyLodge Hospice.The Burton-Upon-Stather

hospice support group hasorganised the fundraiser,whichwill be held at theWest-lands Club, Burton.The Easter-themed event

will include refreshments, abring and buy sale, cake stall,raffle and Easter bonnet com-petition.Admission is £1 and the

event runs from 10am tonoon.

Raising funds

TASK:A team tackles one of the challenges posed during the then-namedNite Pilot event. Their taskwasto remove the bottle from a marked square using only pieces of string and a rubber band in 1999.

MARATHON EFFORT: Corus steelworkerNeil Gray (left) who is to run the LondonMarathon to raise money for charity, with hiscolleague Paul Hope. INSET: Paul’s late wifeDiane. PICTURE: Paul Torrie.

50-YEAR LOW: Production atCorus is down.