Carl’s hard day’s knight

ipswich: Town fan Carl Day has taken on a real knightmare fundraising effort – running the London marathon in a 500-year-old suit of armour!

The chairman of the Ipswich Town independent supporters’ trust will be taking part in the event at the end of the month to raise money for the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

He’s already had �5,000 pledged to him for the effort – and is now hoping to push that up to �10,000 by the time he lines up in London. That would take the total he has raised for the charity beyond the �50,000 mark.

The 43-year-old, from Meadows Crescent in Ipswich, has a special reason for raising money for the BHF.

He said: “My daughter Megan has a heart condition and the treatment she received was developed thanks to funding from the British Heart Foundation, so we feel we owe them a great deal.

“I’m doing this to help pay them back for that help . . . and there’s always the chance I might need their help after lugging this lot around the London streets!” he joked.

Mr Day spent �400 on his suit of armour online – and about 75 per cent of it is original.

“There were fancy dress hire places doing armour, but I thought that if I was doing it I might as well do it properly,” he said.

“The original parts of the armour date back about 500 years. It was made for someone who was big at the time – about five feet eight inches – but I’m more than six feet tall so it chafes a bit!”

Mr Day has been training by running or walking between Ipswich and Felixstowe with a 70lb rucksack on his back – the same weight as the armour.

But when he came to try it in the armour itself, he found it was more difficult.

He said: “It does get a bit uncomfortable. I had expected to take about ten hours to complete the course, but having tried it out over the last few days that might be rather optimistic.

“I suspect it will take me between 12 and 13 hours – at best. I certainly don’t expect to be one of the first along the Mall at the finish.”

And he knows it will be a struggle. He paraded around the Portman Road pitch during half time in the match against Reading – and found he was unable to complete the lap during the interval.

“That was tougher than I’d expected, but the crowd gave me a great reception.

“I haven’t run a marathon for 25 years, and I’ve never taken part in the London Marathon. I knew it was going to be tough – I’m now beginning to realise just how tough it is going to be,” he said.

And he is expecting to be suffering for several days after the marathon. “I think I must be slightly mad to be doing this,” he added.

n Are you making a big effort for charity? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk