Leicester City club ambassador Alan Birchenall battled through the pain of a bad back to complete his 33rd annual charity run last night.
The 67-year-old defied a chronic back problem to continue his charity fund-raising and completed 90 minutes of running laps around the King Power Stadium pitch ahead of last night's crucial final league game of the season against Watford.
The Birch, who had pain killing injections before the run, had plenty of support and was joined for a few laps by both teams, City vice-chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, MP Keith Vaz and Leicester's boxing binman, Rendall Munroe, as well as runners who had donated £500 each to the Foxes Foundation for the honour of joining the Birch.
Last year, Birch broke the £1 million barrier for money raised from his runs since the first around Filbert Street in 1980 and all funds raised will go to the club's Foxes Foundation charities for the season, The Lord Mayor of Leicester's Stroke Appeal, the Silver Star Diabetes Appeal, Family support charity Home-Start, The Alzheimer's Society – supporting Leicestershire services, and the Foundation for the Welfare of the Mentally Ill Children of Thailand.
In addition, the Foundation will dedicate a part of this season's total to the provision of 10 potentially life-saving defibrillators in key areas throughout the county, working with East Midlands Ambulance Services to identify the most effective areas.