Bes comes in first for Clarets

Last updated : 25 February 2008 By Tony Scholes
Besart Berisha
He lined up alongside members of athletics clubs, three members of Owen Coyle's backroom team and a host of runners including Burnley supporters in the thirteen miles plus run along the resort's promenade.

It was all part of his rehabilitation but not just that, he and Andy Mitchell, Claire Judd and John Brannan all raised money towards new legs for Josh Ford the Burnley youngster who was struck down with meningitis.

I'm no runner and am not sure what would be expected of a professional footballer in this sort of race when fully fit, never mind on his way back from a serious knee injury, but I'm told that his finish in 1 hour, 41 minutes and 34 seconds at 7.45 minutes per mile is excellent.

He was the fastest of the Burnley four but to be fair he beat Mitch by just 2 seconds which does suggest they did the run together. Further down the list Claire came in with a time of just over 2 hours, 11 minutes whilst John Brannan completed the run in 2 hours, 23 minutes.

It may well have been a race, and officially Bes finished 392nd out of 1,186 runners, but he, Mitch, Claire and John are all winners having raised this money for such a worthwhile cause as they publicised the name of Burnley FC in such a positive way.

Well done to all four of them.