A Leeds United fan is running one mile everyday come rain or shine until the football club wins five games in a row.
Sarah Pratt from Pudsey, set herself the light-hearted challenge to show her support for the team and encourage more positivity across social media.
The 48-year-old was inspired by viral sensation The United Strand, a Manchester United supporter who refuses to cut his hair until the team also wins five consecutive matches.
“I started doing Leeds United content on TikTok and I did a video and I spoke about the guy from Manchester United that’s growing his hair, laughing about how crazy this is and that he’ll be growing his hair forever,” Sarah told the Yorkshire Evening Post.
“People said you should do it. I thought I’m not going to grow my hair because for a girl especially, I could grow my hair forever and it wouldn’t make a difference.
“But I like running anyway so I thought I’m going to run a mile a day.
“90 per cent of the time my dogs who are springers run the mile with me so they are hoping that Leeds United never win five in a row because they love it”.”
Lifelong Leeds United fan Sarah is running one mile a day until the team win five consecutive matchesplaceholder image
Lifelong Leeds United fan Sarah is running one mile a day until the team win five consecutive matches | Sarah Pratt
On each run, Sarah films herself talking about Leeds United and shares the videos across social media.
She also sometimes invites fellow fans to join her to share what the team mean to them.
So far, Sarah has run for 273 days in a row including on Christmas, and New Year’s Day.
The difficulty hasn’t been the distance itself but rather staying consistent.
“There’s some days that I’ve thought why did I do this but I just think well I’ve got to. I’m not going to end it now because it's raining.”
Sarah is often accompanied on her run by her two dogs Scooby and Druplaceholder image
Sarah is often accompanied on her run by her two dogs Scooby and Dru | Sarah Pratt
For Sarah, support from strangers on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, has been a keen source of motivation to keep going.
She’s been a fan of the club her “whole life”, and even followed the team across Europe to support them at games.
The ultimate goal of the challenge is to spread positivity onlineplaceholder image
The ultimate goal of the challenge is to spread positivity online | Sarah Pratt
As Sarah says that winning five consecutive games is a “really hard to do”, she doesn’t believe her running challenge influences the club’s success. However, she does see it as a way of uniting the Leeds United community.
Her ultimate goal is to encourage football fans to be kinder to the team and to each other online.
Sarah said: “I hope that people speak about Leeds United and the team a little bit more positively over social media.
“When you look at social media, everybody’s an armchair manager.
“(The team) are just young lads - they don’t go out to lose, they can do the best they can. It would be really nice to promote more positive stuff about the team.”
To keep up with Sarah’s progress, follow @LUFC_Adventures on TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube.
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