Soldier's marathon journey for Twin Towers orphans

A British Army soldier from Northern Ireland is in the final stages of a marathon fund-raising mission for the Twin Towers Orphan Fund.

Corporal Terry Twining, who is expected to finish his journey at Southampton later today, has been running to every premiership football ground in England, covering a total distance of 600 miles in a period of 21 days – or 28 miles every day for a total of three weeks.

Twining's charity started at the beginning of the football season at Newcastle and Sunderland on August 22. So far he has already passed through Middlesborough, Leeds, Blackburn, Bolton, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, and London before completing his challenge in Southampton today.

Corporal Twining said: "I chose this extremely physical event, as I wanted to highlight the charity as much as possible.

"To lose a member of your family is hard but to be orphaned from it is unbearable to even think about."

In order to successfully cover a distance of well over a marathon a day, the 29 year-old has enlisted two Army colleagues to act as his support team and he has secured the necessary logistical support and external sponsorship to enable the fundraising venture to take place.

On his trip, donations in the form of football memorabilia have been collected from a range of Premiership clubs along the route and will be auctioned at a charity gala at the end of the football season.

Corporal Twining trained for the event by running 12 miles a day for four weeks, but the physical strain has seen him lose two pounds a day in weight – for which he has had to take in around 3500 calories a day to maintain his strength.

(GMcG)