Darts star Alan Soutar has moved into the second round of the Paddy Power PDC World Darts Championship while joking it was the perfect preparation for his marathon
Alan Soutar said it was the perfect preparation(Image: Getty)
Alan Soutar has joked his Paddy Power PDC World Darts Championship opening round win was the perfect preparation for his tilt at the London Marathon in May.
Soutar, 47, took 72 minutes and 15 match darts to beat Finland’s Teemu Harju – and after the match the firefighter and former commando revealed he’s training for the London Marathon with his manager, while raising funds for Guide Dogs Scotland.
The Scot told Sportsboom,: “It’s good. I run at work obviously I’m still a firefighter, so I go on the treadmill and do a bit of running, but I’m doing it with my darts manager and he’s a little bit older than me and does no fitness at all.”
Alan Soutar will now play Gian van Veen(Image: Getty)
“We’ve already agreed that we’re going to do it together and no matter what we’re going to cross line together.”
“I think I’ll have to go back to my commando days and drag him round.”
“I’ve done half marathons, I was a commando soldier, so I’ve done 30 milers. But that was over 20 years ago.
“If we do it in under five hours, I think we’ll probably go around in four, maybe four and a half, then I’ll be happy with that.
“I could probably do it in 3 hours 30 minutes, maybe a bit better. But like I said, me and Paul are going to do it together and I want him to do his best.
“I’m going to drag him around and change his life for a little bit over the next couple of months because it’s only four months away…”
He added: “I was getting my steps in, wasn’t I? My watch was going crazy. It’s like how many steps do you want to do, just get this finished. You’re overtraining, you’re overtraining!”
The Scot will now face Gian van Veen in the second round on December 22.
