A DEDICATED man who decided to take on three mammoth challenges over the course of the year to raise money for a local football club is set to complete his final hurdle.

Last year when Dean Sanderson found out his application to take part in the London Marathon was

successful, he decided to take his training to another level and take part in two other challenges - the Yorkshire Three Peaks and Tough Mudder Yorkshire.

During the process, Dean decided to raise money for the Dearne and District Football Club, which his sons play for, to help improve the facilities for the local community.

To get himself fit for the challenges, Dean undertook an intense 17-week training programme in which he ran up to four times a week, took part in interval training and went for long-distance runs on the weekend.

In April, Dean took part in the 26.2-mile long London Marathon and last month hiked the 24-mile route up Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough, known as the Yorkshire Three Peaks.

Now Dean has one more hurdle left - in just over two weeks, he will tackle 25 obstacles over a ten-mile course in the Yorkshire Tough Mudder.

So far Dean has managed to raise £2,700 for the Dearne and District Football Club, and is aiming for £3,000.

“I got the London Marathon out of the way in July and that was pretty hard,” explains 37-year-old Dean.

“Then I completed the Three Peaks and to be honest they were just as hard.

“I’ve only got one more challenge to go and that’s at the end of the month.

“All of the money I raise is going to the Dearne and District Football Club and they’ll use that money however they see fit.

“They’re currently on with building a new pavilion by knocking down the old cricket pavilion and putting up a new one.

“That’s got some funding already but still needs some, so the money will probably go towards that.

“After I’ve finished the Tough Mudder I think I’ll have some time off to recover and start thinking about things to do next year.”

Dean’s fundraising efforts and achievements to help the local football club have earned him a nomination in this year’s Proud of Barnsley awards.

Dean said: “I think it’s absolutely brilliant that I’ve been nominated and that I can be a part of something like this.”