Mick gives doctors the runaround!

marathon winner Mick Flatley pictured at a 5k race in Heaton Park last year

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Shaw athlete Mick Flatley ignored his doctor’s advice about running a marathon only days after surgery and his daring paid off when he won!

The 44-year-old father of two had a minor operation at Manchester Royal Infirmary to insert a titanium screw in his skull as a future mounting post for a hearing aid.

When he was unexpectedly called for the procedure on September 1 he faced a run-or-not-to-run dilemma six days later.

But after finishing runner-up twice before in the Wolverhampton marathon, he was determined to run again - and win.

Mick, a deaf and blind development officer for Oldham Council, said: “I’d been running twice a day for five weeks. I couldn’t throw all that away.”

Mick’s friend Ian McBride went along to run alongside Mick and subsequently won the accompanying half-marathon! “Ian has been really supportive. He wouldn’t let me go on my own,” said Mick.

“I put everything I had in that race; it was fantastic crossing the line nine minutes in front of the second runner.”