There are only 98 days to the start of wonderful idea of Hillsborough-Anfield Run. Continuing our media support for Dominic Williams’ action we proudly present you a few more facts about the run.

Right now, in exclusive interview for LFCPoland.com we have the team members Earle Jackson and John Driscoll, who will run with Dominic; Paul Brannon from runner support team and Conor Brennan who is responsible for media contacts.

LFCPoland.com: Hello lads! I ask you the obvious question: why did you decide to join Dom’s event and what was your first reaction, when Dom asked you about it?

John Driscoll: I decided to join Dom’s event because I’m a life long Livepool fan, born and bred in Liverpool so it’s a subject very close to my heart, I’ve been through good and bad times with LFC over the years, (I was at Heysel, I was at Dortmond ) but Hillsborough was the worst and I think what Dom is doing is a great idea and I’d love to be part of it, to show my support. My first reaction when Dom asked me was "yeah deffo" followed by "Jesus , how far is it from Hillsborough to Anfield" and I quickly got the map out to check.

John Driscoll

Earle Jackson: I wanted to join in with the run to keep the justice campaign in the public eye, its a great idea from Dominic to run between the grounds.

Earle Jackson

Conor Brennan: I was asked to help due to my success in leading the campaign to get rid of Steven Cohen - a US based English born hate merchant and radio and TV talk show host who spent his time blaming Liverpool fans for Hillsborough, saying that they were responsible for the deaths of the 96. I thought Dom's idea was a great one and I was happy to help out in whatever way I could.

Conor Brennan

Paul Brannon: My first reaction was to find a way to get involved.  70 miles over 3 days would have been frightening enough for me a few years ago but over-use injuries mean that is out of the question now but I do love events such as this so want to get involved and provide back-up.  I will do it by bike going slightly ahead of the group and offering help such as direction-finding, food and drink supplies, pace advice, encouragement, things like that.

Paul Brannon

- Didn’t you think: ‘It is a crazy idea, how we will run 70 miles in only three days'?

Paul: No, I think Dom’s crazy (laughs) but think on the whole modern society is too soft.  This is a proper, serious challenge.  Tough enough to get noticed and presented far enough in advance to get those that are enthusiastic about it time to get fit enough to make a significant impact on the drive to bring the demand for justice to wider public knowledge.

Conor: Perhaps, but then again, I'm not doing the training or the running! Seriously though, I do run and I do know the breath of the undertaking. It's substantial, and yes, a bit crazy. But for a worthy cause.

John: I think the 70 miles won’t be a problem really because I run every day anyway (never that far though) and I’ve ran in a marathon and a few half marathons, so I will just have to step my training up a bit, doing longer distances and work on my stamina.

Earle: Sometimes you have to do crazy things to get people to sit up and take notice!

- Hillsborough – Anfield Run will be a massive action, not only with the fund-raising, but also with the whole education of British society about the tragedy. Do you think these kind of actions will help to get long-awaited justice for all families?

Earle: I hope the families will finally get justice, 22 years is way too long! If we can help in any way to promote the cause then I will be happy to do whatever I can and if that means running 70+ miles then so be it!

John: The Hillsborouh to Anfield run will be a massive action with the fundraising and the whole education of British society of the tragedy, as you say, as far as the long awaited justice for the family is concerned, that is out of our hands but what we are doing will get awareness .

Paul: I sincerely hope so.  Just eight days after the Hillsborough disaster, I was standing on the start line of the 1989 London Marathon and was very disappointed at the lack of respect shown by the request for a minute’s silence for the 95 (at the time) so graphically remembered by the runners present, just prior to the starting gun.  It’s always been my goal to help bring the tragedy of this disaster and subsequent denial of justice to the wider public. This is more than a marathon a day for two consecutive days to cover the significant distance from Hillsborough to Anfield.  That is beyond the toughest of tough events thought of by most people.  This means it will command publicity and awareness.  It will also pass near to where several million people live and will attract some real attention during the run.

- Would you like to join similar actions in the future?

Conor: Absolutely.

John: Yes, I would join similar actions in the future, if possible.

Paul: Of course I would. Provided it’s well structured and with a stated aim in advance.

Earle: I would definately do other fund raising activities for the cause (I have continued to support the cause over the 22 years, buying merchandise, concerts etc).

- What are your personal goals connected with the Hillsborough – Anfield Run?

Paul: I want to help people achieve their goals in completing this gargantuan task and to provide my knowledge of the route.  I’ve cycled all this route in that past so can bring some experience to the team. 

Earle: I was at Hillsborough and lost a friend of mine, David Benson, and also had many friends and family who were caught up in the mayhem! I helped out on the pitch, helping the injured. This means an awful lot to me!

Conor: To make it a success in raising money and awareness.

John: My personal goals are to finish the run together as a group with lots of money raised.

- Conor, you are responsible for media. What is the hardest task in getting the action better known among the society, especially nationwide?

- There has been a conscious effort not to go nationwide at the moment - that'll come in February and after. The initial plan is to get the message out there locally in Liverpool - we have already been on LFC.tv, BBC Radio Merseyside and The Liverpool Echo. Plus a whole host of Liverpool-based message boards, podcasts and websites. Obviously Facebook and Twitter are a vital part of the strategy, but the hope is that as we broadcast the message, there will be a pull rather than a push to the national media. Already one or tow of the national newspapers have approached us and we have asked that we come back to them later on. Our feeling is that if we are only to get one mention in say, The Guardian, that we would prefer to get it when we are closer to the date for maximum effect. Also, our website is a  work in progress. We are very glad to have the expertise of Niki Odolphie here and we are constantly refining the product.

- What was the reaction of the Liverpool Football Club after your recent interview in LFC TV, Conor?

- The Club is very impressed with the dedication of the runners and the support team and thinks it a great idea and have offered future support and coverage.

- What are the best and the worst moments so far in preparing to the run?

Earle: The best thing is knowing we are doing this for a cause close to our & all LFC fans hearts! I think the only bad thing would be getting an injury & not being able to do the run! so fingers crossed that won’t happen.

Paul: The worst for me is that I can’t run those sorts of distances anymore and I wish I could be involved on that side.  I’d be considerably lighter now if I could!  The best moments are knowing I’ll be involved but won’t have to do all that running!

Conor: Best moment is knowing that you are making a difference in such an important cause. Worst? None yet, but I'm sure Dom has something up his sleeve!

John: My training is going smoothly at the moment; the best moment would be running along the Dubai beach at 7 am just as the sun is rising, my worst moment was one day I went for one of my long runs (90 mins) and forgot to put sun block on my baldy head, so ended up with a very sore sunburnt head for a few days.

- All Polish Reds who know about the Hillsborough – Anfield Run take their fingers crossed for your run and hopefully couple of us from Poland will join you on the route for support, I will be there definitely. Thank you very much for your time and see you soon!

Earle: Thanks to all the Polish LFC fans in England, Poland & around the world for supporting our run & giving us the opportunity to introduce ourselves to you all. It would be brilliant if some of the Polish LFC fans would be able to support us on our run, together we'll never walk alone! JFT96!

John: Thanks to you Polish Peds for supporting this great club, hope to see some of you at the end of our run, we will have to catch up and have a few bevvy’s.

You can find also the Polish version of this interview directly HERE.