JOHN TERRY has heaped praise on a London Marathon runner “dressed as a shoe” after they overtook him before returning to help him.
The former Chelsea captain was one of a number of ex footballers taking part in the run on Sunday, including ex-Blues stars Steve Sidwell and Jody Morris.
However, the 44-year-old was left in pain after blood was seen coming through his T-shirt after suffering from nipple chafing when he was picked up by TV cameras during the event.
But Terry’s afternoon took a strange turn when he was helped by a fellow runner… dressed as a shoe.
Taking to Instagram, Terry shared a picture of himself in his running gear alongside Morris and Sidwell and said the marathon was “the TOUGHEST thing” he had ever done “by far”.
He captioned the post with his stunning shoe story, saying: “Legs are a little stiff and sore this morning, that is by far the TOUGHEST thing I have EVER done and this morning I have so much respect for everyone who run the marathon yesterday.
“Also a big shout out to the guy dressed as a shoe, who overtook me when I was struggling, yes dressed as a shoe and overtook me, slowed down and gave me some great words of encouragement and gave me some sweets and gels, he then carried on running, about two minutes later he come running back towards me with a bottle of coke.
“Thank you mate 👊🏻💙🏃🏻♂️SHHOOEEE…
“I see so many great things like this yesterday.
“Well Done everyone.”
The runner in question turned out to be Karl Fitzpatrick.
According to the BBC, he was running to raise money for Jersey Hospice.
He has been supporting the hospice since 2022 and has raised nearly £22,000 in that time.
On running with Terry, Mr Fitzpatrick told the BBC: “I said to the fella ‘only the greatest marathon runners wear these shoes,’ joking as we both had them on.
“I then realised it was John Terry. I slowed down and try to give him the motivational bants and tried to reassure him that he was doing fine.
“So it might have looked strange, a shoe running the opposite way to everyone else and handing a full fat coke. I wished him the very best and told him ‘be strong and the pain will go.”
As well as his nipple injury, Terry was also forced to slow to a walk at one point due to cramp.
He eventually completed the course in just over five hours.
However, former manager Jose Mourinho issued a brutal reply to his marathon completion on Instagram.
He joked: “Sid I believe. You I have doubts you did it.”
Sidwell himself replied to the post, saying: “Brilliant mate. Incredible effort.”
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