Football fan in 250-mile stadium run challenge

A man in a black t-shirt and black shorts stands with arms outstretched in front of a statue of a man with his arms outstretched. The man and the statue are in front of Aberdeen FC's football stadium's Richard Donald stand.Image source, Archie Whitfield
Image caption,

Archie Whitfield set off from Aberdeen FC's Pittodrie Stadium on Saturday

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A football fan has begun a 250-mile (402km) run between all 12 Scottish Premiership club grounds in memory of his father, who died after suffering a brain tumour.

Archie Whitfield, 23, from Thirsk in North Yorkshire, set off from Aberdeen FC's Pittodrie Stadium on Saturday.

In April, as part of his bid to raise £100,000 for The Brain Charity, Mr Whitfield ran a total of 835 miles (1,344km), visiting each of the 20 English Premier League stadiums in 25 days.

Mr Whitfield, who aims to finish the challenge in Kilmarnock, said his dad would have thought he was "a bit bonkers" but would have been proud.

A bald man in running shoes, black t-shirt and kilt standing in front of Dundee FC's stadium.Image source, Archie Whitfield
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Mr Whitfield has also visited stadiums in Aberdeen and Dundee as part of his 250-mile challenge

Mr Whitfield said he aimed to complete the challenge by the end of the week and with nine more grounds to go, he has already raised more than £23,000 for charity.

"My dad Dave was a massive part of my life," he said.

"I wanted to do something in his memory, because he was the sort of man who always tried to do something to make life for the people around him better, to make his community better."

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Archie Whitfield told BBC Radio York's Jericho Keys how the challenge came about.

He added: "Dad was a massive football fan, so it's fitting that I'm running between stadiums.

"He would have loved the fact it was football related. He'd be proud."

Mr Whitfield said he was excited about seeing the big stadiums "like Ibrox and Celtic" and even hoped to "get to see a few matches along the way".

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