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Inverness football referee to run 10 marathons in a month in aid of the NHS during coronavirus crisis


By Alasdair Fraser

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A football referee has got his running shoes on to help the NHS this month.

Billy Baxter, from Milton of Leys, ran the line as assistant referee at Celtic Park, Ibrox and Hampden earlier in a 20-year side career as one of the SFA’s men in black and is now a category three referee in the Highland League.

For all the fitness that requires – covering an average of seven miles during every match – the 51-year-old is a rookie runner.

But that hasn’t stopped him attempting to run 10 marathons in a month.

Extra motivation for Mr Baxter, whose day job sees him working as an area manager for the Construction Industry Training Board, comes from the fact that daughter Katie (19) is a trainee NHS nurse while his sister Pamela has just recovered from a worrying bout of coronavirus.

Mr Baxter said: “I’m no natural athlete, but I just want to make a contribution.”

Donations to his crowdfunder page for NHS Charities Together have already smashed through the initial £500 target to reach almost £1200.

Before April was out, Mr Baxter had completed the first two marathons without any specific training.

He said: “I’ve given myself five weeks to try to do this and I’ve managed four marathons already.

“I’m a football referee as a spare time hobby, but I’m not a runner. I’m getting to about 16 or 17 miles and then hitting the wall.”

For the first marathon, Mr Baxter set up a couple of cones at Culloden football pitches and ran his 26 miles there.

Two days later, he split the distance into two half marathons, before running the back woods from Culloden to Nairn County’s Station Park for the third.

The fourth took him across town and along the Caledonian Canal.

He added: “Obviously, to prove it all, I have a GPS watch recording each run. I’m certainly never going to break any records – it takes me well over five hours.

“Recovery is a bit difficult as it’s not like you can visit a physio or get a leg massage right now, but contrary to what fans shout at me at Clach Park, football officials do have to be quite fit. If we don’t pass SFA fitness tests, we don’t get games.”

Donations can be made at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/billy-baxter3


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