Man running with fridge on back stopped by police over theft suspicions

29 January 2024 , 15:57

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Daniel is marathon training (Image: No credit)

A man running with a fridge on his back for marathon training was stopped by police who thought he might be up to no good.

Daniel Fairbrother, 34, was practising for the London marathon when the cops saw him and turned on their blue lights. He explained to the officers that he's raising money for Diabetes UK and is trying to break a world record. He aims to beat the time of four hours and 52 minutes for running a marathon with an appliance.

Daniel, from Stevenage, said: "I was running along with my headtorch on - it was a quiet night and pitch black apart from the cars going past when a police car did a double take. The road just illuminated blue, and I looked to my left and sure enough there was the police car."

"I crossed into the middle of the road by the driver's window and the police officer said: 'We've got to stop you because we need to figure out what on Earth is going on.'" Daniel added that the police were really curious when they stopped him. They asked me where I got the fridge from and why I was carrying it like that when I told them about the marathon training."

After explaining his unusual training method, he shared that the police joked: "You do know if you order from Currys, they will deliver it for you?" Daniel aims to raise £10,000 for Diabetes UK in honour of his best mate Sam, a Type 1 diabetic who has stuck with him "through thick and thin".

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Daniel and his fridge Tallulah (No credit)

He bagged a spot in the marathon with Diabetes UK and chose a fridge, which he named Tallulah, inspired by the bobsled in the film Cool Runnings. He said: "The film was one of my favourites as a child and they pulled their bobsled across at the end of the line - I just hope that I won't have a massive crash like them."

A Hertfordshire Constabulary spokesman said: "We would like to wish Daniel all the best with the training for the marathon". The London marathon is set for Sunday, April 21.

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Faye Mayern