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Day shares hopes for playing return following fundraising efforts

As many supporters will have noticed, Dewsbury Rams hooker Sam Day has kept himself busy during the lockdown period by raising money for worthy causes.

Day, who has become a fans’ favourite at the club since first joining on loan in 2017, is using his time away from the game to keep fit by running half-marathons.

He said: “I wanted to stay fit during lockdown so I’ve been out running.

“And whilst out running I thought I could mix it up and raise some money for charity, and run half a marathon every day until lockdown finished.

“But then I didn’t know when lockdown was going to finish, so I ended up running a full marathon to call it quits!

“So far I have run eight half-marathons and raised £780 after setting a target of £700, so that’s great.

“The money has gone to the NHS Together charity to help them.”

Day explained that has always had an interest in running, having covered similar distances in his younger years.

“I always liked running but it is hard training for it with a job and playing rugby also.

“I’ve done a couple of half-marathons in the past and I did one in lockdown and felt good afterwards, so I thought I’d do one every week.

“However, it did start to get hard in the end!”

Day added that he is excited by the prospect of a return to action in the coming months, after playing a key role in the team’s positive start to the season, during which they won four out of six fixtures in League and Cup.

“Looking back we had a good start. We had a decent pre-season and started the season well. I am looking forward to getting back as we have a good team this year, and I am missing it.

“Everyone bought into what Lee [Greenwood] wanted and everyone puts a big shift in at training.

“It’s not a chore turning up to training; everyone is playing for each other, which I think makes a big difference.

“The year before, Lee had minimal preparation time and I don’t think that helped, but it’s different this year.

“We were five games in and just starting to get up to top fitness to take us through the season, so you are up there and you don’t really want to lose it, especially after the tough pre-season we’d had.

“That’s why the lockdown running has been important for keeping that fitness up.”

Day added that he is also missing being around his team-mates, but said the recent #StayAtHomeTrainAtHome videos have helped keep the squad in touch.

“One of the major things you miss is being around the lads.

“You see them four or five times a week, so to go from that to not seeing them at all has been hard. It will be good to see everyone again.

“The videos were a good laugh,” he added.

“The lads would post them in group chats first then online afterwards. They were being done daily, which was good.

“Mine was passing the ball around the house, through windows and down stairs.”

Little is known about a potential return date, but Day is maintaining his focus on pulling on the Red, Amber and Black once more.

He joked: “Hopefully I’ll be able to remember how to play when we get back to it – it’s been a long time!

“We will all have to try to get back to normality again – and back into the huge routines we have.

“Everyone wants to train and play again, so it will be good to start doing that for sure – whenever that may be.”

You may still donate to Sam’s fundraising by clicking here.