A man training for the London Marathon while carrying a fridge on his back has told of how he was stopped by police who thought he had stolen the appliance.
Daniel Fairbrother was brought to a halt by officers in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, during training for his attempt to break the world record for the “fastest marathon carrying a household appliance (white goods)”.
He told the BBC that the officers quickly realised he was not stealing anything and the exchange ended in a handshake.
Fairbrother said he was on his second run carrying the fridge, which he hopes will help him raise money for Diabetes UK in April, when he noticed a police car turning around.
He said: “They put their blue lights on, held up the traffic and stopped me to find out what on earth was going on. Understandably they had not seen anything like it before.
“One police officer wound down his window and said: ‘You understand we’ve got to stop you. Is that a fridge on your back?’”
After Fairbrother explained his 26-mile challenge, he said the officer joked: “You do know if you order from Currys, they will deliver it for you?”
The fridge-carrying runner added that although it was embarrassing, he did not mind at all.
He continued: “I would expect the police to do their job and check on someone running about with a fridge. If I got pulled over another 10 times I wouldn’t be annoyed.”
Fairbrother is aiming to raise money for Diabetes UK in support of his best friend, Sam, who has type 1 diabetes. “I tried to undertake a challenge last year, which didn’t go as planned, and I promised to come back bigger and stronger,” he said.
A Hertfordshire constabulary spokesperson told the BBC: “We would like to wish Daniel all the best with training for the marathon.”
Fairbrother has named the fridge Tallulah after the bobsleigh in the film Cool Runnings.
