Andy’s real life Monopoly challenge for Hospice

Kirkwood Hospice Ambassador, Andy Wright, plans an epic run round Kirklees taking in all of the sites featured on Huddersfield’s own Monopoly board and is inviting local businesses to support his fundraising efforts.

Andy Wright, from Mirfield, is an avid supporter of Kirkwood Hospice, which supports people in Kirklees affected by a life-limiting illnesses.

Andy has set himself the challenge of running 5,000 miles in five years to raise essential funds and awareness for Kirkwood.

Having now surpassed the halfway mark of his mammoth mission, this year Andy is committing to his biggest challenge yet.

On Saturday, Andy will be running a route around Kirklees which passes every square featured on Huddersfield’s popular edition of the Monopoly board, which was released in October last year.

At approximately 27 miles, the route is an impressive challenge and will take in all of Huddersfield’s favourite landmarks including Castle Hill, Emley Moor Mast, the John Smith’s Stadium, Harold Wilson’s statue and of course Kirkwood Hospice, which holds a community chest square on the board as voted for by the people of Kirklees.

The run is inspired by an idea Andy had while working in London a few years previously, where he undertook a similar challenge and ran the route of the original London-based Monopoly board; taking ‘selfies’ at each square that he passed, such as King’s Cross or Mayfair.

“If you’ve ever fancied visiting all of Huddersfield’s landmarks, this is a unique opportunity to do it in a single day,” says Andy

“It’s a fun run rather than a race, and it would be great to get as many people as possible joining in – either by running bits of it with me, or organising their own event at one of the “squares” on the board as we pass.”

The Huddersfield marathon-distance route, which will be setting off at 8.30am on Saturday at Emley Moor, will include lots of hills and climbs and take in beautiful scenery.

Ultimately, it will finish up at the Harold Wilson statue in Huddersfield’s town centre.

Kirkwood will be inviting all local companies and those featured on the board to join in on this unique challenge for 2019, either by running parts of the route with Andy, or  by hosting their own fundraiser  on the day.