A young schoolboy camped all night just for the chance to run alongside his sporting idol, Tyson Fury.
Presley Pennington, 14, drove 50 miles with his parent from Burnley to Morecambe to see if he could spot the world heavyweight champion on his morning workout routine. He even went as far as sleeping in a canopy above his parent's campervan just for the opportunity to see the 'Gypsy King'.
It was all worth it for the schoolboy as he managed to bump into the boxer during a 6am run along the seafront. The excited youngster even managed to film a video of meeting his idol, where he can be heard excitedly yelling "with Tyson on a run" while the champion encouraged him.
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Speaking about the heartwarming experience, Presley said: "They say don’t meet your heroes but he has such a good personality. I have two books on him and the reason he inspires me is that he was struggling, he had bad mental health problems and wanted to crash into a wall.
"Then he thought of his kids, started training and became the heavyweight champion of the world. I admire that he turned his life around so quickly."
The Blessed Trinity RC College pupil said he was inspired to take the long journey to meet Tyson after seeing him jogging on social media. He added: "I saw on Instagram that he runs down the seafront in Morecambe most days for his wellbeing.
"I said to my grandma ‘I want to meet Tyson.’ We have a caravan in Morecambe, so we decided to try and make it happen.
He added: "The weird thing is the day before, when we got to Morecambe, I saw Tyson in his car near Sainsbury’s out the blue and he shook my hand. I got a picture and he gave me a hat which he signed.”
The following day, on June 3, Presley's dad Arron, 37, said his son woke him up by leaving the caravan in the early hours of the morning. He said: "I thought he was bloody mad as I didn’t think he was going to do it.
"He was in the tent above the campervan and I said, 'What are you doing?' He said, ‘I’m going for a run with Tyson fury’ but I just said, ‘You’re mad’ and shut the window.”
Presley then visited the Morecambe seafront where he was shocked to see the boxing champion coasting along with a union flag tied to his back. He said: “I got up and ready for 6 am, and we saw him on the run, and he remembered me.
"I only ran a little way with him, but the adrenaline kept me going!”
Later on, Presley posted a video of him running with Tyson on social media, saying: "All my friends laughed at it. They thought it was great.”
After experiencing some of Tyson's training routine, Presley is now confident that his idol will beat Anthony Joshua in the upcoming title fight.
"Tyson will absolutely smash him. He is a warrior. I would bet £2m on Tyson winning if I could, I am that confident!”
Speaking about his future, Presley admits to enjoying boxing, however, he already has solid plans for what he wants to do for a living.
He said: “I want to be a scaffolder or roofer. My mate and I want to set up our own business.”
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