It’s fair to say that Chris Deighton is a bit of a larrikin however he wasn’t joking when he vowed last year that he would run from Nyngan to Cobar, all in the name of charity.
In an interview with The Cobar Weekly last December Deighton said he decided to “go big” so the Copper City Road Run and the causes he was doing it for would get noticed.
Life has however changed over the past 12 months for Deighton since he took over and started running his new business, the Copper City Tyre Service. He said didn’t count on the big time drain that running the business would bring and, coupled with his volunteer commitments to Cobar Rugby League Club as their president and a First Grade player, that has eaten into a lot of his planned training time for his Copper City Road Run.
So Deighton’s had to modify his plans slightly and this Saturday he’ll be running from Hermidale to Cobar, a distance of 85km, which is still nothing to sneeze at.
(He was supposed to run on Friday but work got in the road and so now it’s Saturday.)
Jokingly he said he plans to start with a schooner at the Hermidale Hotel on Saturday morning and finish with a schooner at the Empire Hotel that afternoon.
Deighton estimates his fundraising tally is up to about $5,000 and the final sum will be split between the Cobar Miners Memorial Appeal and the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS).
Both, he said, are very worthwhile causes.
With the football season now over, Deighton has been able to concentrate more on his road run training and has been doing long runs (20-25kms) two to three times a week.
“I did the Dubbo Stampede a couple of weeks ago, that was 42km, and I had to walk a bit at the end as my knee was playing up,” Deighton said.
He said while he is still carrying the injury, he should be right for his big run this week.
He’s hoping the weather will be kind to him and reckons he wouldn’t care if it rained. He said if it’s windy, he hopes it will be a tail wind and not a head wind that he’s running into.
He’ll head off on Saturday morning with his support crew which includes his “lovely mother” Zela along with Barry and Virginia Knight (and massage therapist Mel Singh) who are all volunteering their time.
He’s also got the support of the RFDS and Cindy and ‘Shorty’ Bryan at the Empire Hotel who are planning a welcome for him on Saturday afternoon.
Deighton will also welcome any local runners joining him for part of the run to keep him motived and anyone wanting to donate to his run can do so at the Regional Australia Bank.
