Matthew Smith, co-founder of If U Care Share, is running to all the Premier League stadiums to raise funds for the charity.
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00:00Hi, I'm Mark Ruthers for the Shields Gazette, and as you'll know, we've been tracking Matthew Smith on his epic challenge to run from Bournemouth's Vitality Stadium to St James' Park via the other 18 Premier League grounds.
00:14Matthew, you're into your final week now, we should say, recording this on Saturday morning. Give us an update on how you're feeling and how things are progressing.
00:25Feeling good, to be honest. To think I'm in the final week's a bit of a strange one. I think in all of the build-up to this, I never tried to think too far ahead.
00:40So, to be in the final week is exciting. There's still some negatives, some challenges ahead. Obviously, there's still quite a bit of running to do.
00:53I need to get across the Pennines, which has always been in the back of my head. That's going to be quite a significant challenge.
01:01Yesterday was tough. I'd done 34 miles the day before, and then I knew I had 31 to get to Anfield, and I was tired yesterday.
01:11So far, so good, but I think the biggest thing is just how far away I am still from the fundraising.
01:19I've still got over £100,000 I need to raise, and I've got seven days, six days to do that.
01:26It seems nigh on impossible. However, it is possible. These things can change overnight with the right support, and if I don't believe it, who's going to believe it?
01:36So, just keep kind of believing, and just keep putting one foot in front of the other.
01:43You can see the links to donate to the Total Giving site below on the bar icon on your screen, along with details on how to track Matthew's run.
01:54As it stands, at nine o'clock on Saturday morning, sat within touching distance of Anfield, not too far away.
02:03So, the plan today, I'm guessing, is Everton and then the Manchester clubs?
02:08Yeah, so I won't be getting to the Manchester clubs today.
02:13I'm starting at Anfield, straight over to Goodison, and then going to be heading towards Manchester,
02:21and then we'll be doing the Manchester clubs tomorrow, which will be interesting with it being a weekend and being busier.
02:29Planned ahead to avoid kind of match day today.
02:33But yeah, 25 miles I'm going to be doing today, and then another kind of 25, 26 tomorrow heading into Manchester,
02:44and then heading out and really starting to brave the hills and making the journey back to the northeast and hoping the weather's going to be kind.
02:56I mean, you have really been through all sorts of weather, anyone that's been tracking you.
03:00You know, you've seen the blazing hot sunshine in the south.
03:03You've had the winds of the storms and rain. You've really been through it in that sense.
03:09Oh, the stereotypical British summer is very much the experience.
03:13I've had some beautiful sun, which isn't the best for running.
03:18I've burnt all my lips. My lips were a mess.
03:21And then, yeah, rain, wind. The only thing I haven't had, I think, so far is snow.
03:26But there's still time, still time. So, yeah, it's been a mixed bag.
03:34A word on the clubs. I mean, you've obviously, since we last spoke, been around the Midlands to Liverpool last night.
03:41You seem to have been really warmly received by them all.
03:45Yeah, the clubs have been superb.
03:48You know, I'm hoping there's going to be a few other things kind of coming out over the next week or so with the clubs.
03:54But we've managed to get into every stadium. They've welcomed us with open arms, been extremely supportive.
04:01You know, they get the reason, they get the purpose because it affects everybody, you know, what we're talking about.
04:10And I've certainly seen, you know, football clubs can get a lot of flack and, you know, get a lot of criticism.
04:18But they do a lot of good and they are supportive of causes and, you know, they want to be part of change.
04:26So, very grateful for that.
04:29One of the big things you spoke about at the very start of the run, and when you announced you were doing it,
04:34was one of the things we talk about at If You Care, is opening up conversations on mental health, on suicide.
04:42Have you found on your run so far, from Bournemouth to where you are now,
04:46have you found those conversations happening with clubs, with people, with strangers, with anyone?
04:52Yeah, 100%. Talking to the lads who are kind of supporting, who are hiding in the background at the minute.
05:00And the biggest lift, I think, is getting them little conversations, them little kind of acknowledgements
05:08and sharing stories and stuff like that.
05:11You know, we were at Anfield last night and the guy who showed us round, unfortunately, lost his brother in the Hillsborough disaster.
05:19And to be able to kind of just talk about the experience that he's had since then,
05:25and obviously the impact on his mental health and his family's mental health in a horrendous situation.
05:33You know, it's the emotive, but the special moments you get to share and you get to be able to kind of understand
05:44and share different experiences. And yeah, they're the special moments.
05:52Yeah. So it's the reason why you're doing this, isn't it?
05:56At the end of the day, it's to get that message out there, to fundraise, to help save lives
06:01and start those conversations that maybe we don't have as much as we should to share with each other.
06:09Right, I shall let you go and prepare for Everton, which is a relative short hop across Stanley Park from Anfield.
06:15And then the journey to Manchester...
06:17If only they were all that close, Mark.
06:19I was going to say, I was going to say.
06:21To donate, you can go to totalgiving.co.uk, appeal forward slash team H135.
06:27Matthew, we will speak early next week when the run for home starts.
06:32Definitely, definitely. And I've just got Lewis Creepman in the background as well.
06:37He didn't realise he was on the camera there.
06:40We'll do no takes as well. We'll do no takes as well.