Blues brothers following suit
Date published: 08 August 2011
THESE runners are feeling blue as they prepare to speed over 13 miles in special suits designed to attract attention and raise money for charity.
Oldham mates Tom Yates and Phil Kelly will put on the one-piece ‘Morph’ suits, complete with bright white shorts and sweat bands, to raise funds for the National Autistic Society.
Morph was a children’s Plasticine character made famous by BBC TV’s Tony Hart.
Now Tom and Phil have renamed the Great North run the Great Morph Run as they train for the 13.1 miles race from Newcastle to South Shields next month.
Tom (25) from Chadderton, and Phil (24) from Grotton, met at school and became firm friends as they studied at University Campus Oldham.
They are also two founder members of the Oldham Business Network.
Tom, who sells property abroad, and Phil, who works in insurance, are now in training for the world’s biggest half marathon race.
Tom said: “We average about five miles two or three times a week.
“We can breathe through the suits OK and we can see through them, although everything has a bit of a purple tinge.
“We chose them for the play on words and also to attract more attention and give people an incentive to sponsor us.”
They chose the NAS because Tom's sister works with autistic children and provides respite care, and a friend’s family member suffers from severe autism.
Tom added: “We want to raise awareness of something that is not commonly spoken about.”
The runners have facebook and fundraising pages set up:
www.facebook.com/thegreatmorphrun
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/purplegiraffe
