KEVIN Sinfield was not the only person living in Saddleworth to complete the 101-mile course.
And David Spencer’s endurance wowed the former rugby league professional, who is used to pushing himself through physical training.
The Chadderton native was alongside him for every step of the way, through a cold night and despite exhaustion.
But Kevin could not praise what his running mate did enough, saying: “David’s not a foreigner but he’s from Chadderton. People would say he’s a ‘comer-inner.’
“David moved up to Saddleworth a couple of years ago but he’s an Oldham lad.
“What he’s achieved has been remarkable. He’s done a really, really good job and handled it very well. He looked comfortable and just got it done.
“To ask someone to just turn up and run 101 miles is no easy feat. He’s certainly got some mental toughness to be able to do it.
“I’m very pleased he was alongside me. It can be pretty lonely but having someone alongside you who’d running the same distance was great.
“You feel exactly the same and you’re able to bounce some things off each other.
“It’s funny as I swapped texts with him and we were talking about the fact we didn’t actually spend that much time together.
“We ran together for 24 hours but actually being together side by side, there wasn’t that many moments.
“We didn’t say a great deal to each other but what there was, which reminded me of my playing career, was a lot of looks and nods, a lot of winks and a lot of, ‘We need t get it done and we’re going to keep going.’
“There were a lot of looks of ‘I’m struggling a bit here but I’m going to fight and scrap.’ We both shared them, so it was really nice to have him alongside me.”
