A local para-athlete from Stockport has been selected for the British Para Ice Hockey squad ahead of the 2024 World Championships and is now in a race to raise enough funds to be able to make it to the tournament in Norway.
So, let’s see if we can help him and some other members of his team out, shall we?
Offerton native Dean Lahan plays for the Manchester Mayhem Para Ice Hockey team over in Altrincham but is also known across Greater Manchester and parts of the UK as the ‘Fingerless Magician’, having sadly lost many of his digits along with his right leg through meningitis as a toddler.
Having featured in multiple stories throughout his youth and become a familiar face online through his impressive card tricks, the SK-born magician and para-athlete has once again been selected by Great Britain for Pool B of the World Para Ice Hockey Championships — but there’s a lot more to it than that.
As is unfortunately the case for many people at this level of sport, especially amongst the para-athletic community, there just isn’t enough funding to pay for everyone’s flights, accommodation, insurance etc, so Dean, like many of his teammates, has had to set up a fundraiser to hopefully pay his way.
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Writing on his GoFundMe page, the 26-year-old wrote: “I have been selected to represent GB at the upcoming World Para Ice Hockey Pool B World Championships in Skien, Norway from 12-21 April 2024.
“During this tournament, we are competing against countries including Norway, Germany, Sweden, Kazakhstan and France. Our GB team is currently unfunded so all athletes including myself are responsible for self-funding their trip and associated expenses through either personal contributions or personal fundraising.”
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Explaining his target, Lahan goes on to explain that “the cost of the trip for me will be around £2000 (to cover accommodations/food/local transport in addition to my flights and associated travel insurance)” — a sizeable financial obstacle for anyone, let alone those who have to make concessions due to disability.
Dean Lahan playing forward for Manchester Mayhem.Dean was first selected for GB back in 2019.Credit: Manchester Mayhem/Facebook
Speaking to The Manc, Dean explained that “one of the main challenges is gathering these funds; we compete against other countries which are fully funded and play ice hockey as their job, whereas us GB players have to work full-time jobs as well as play ice hockey and train in the gym often late at night.
“I like to keep busy and am always looking for ways to challenge myself, training daily in the gym around 5:30am and with the world championships coming up I am currently training twice a day — this means my magic has had to take a back seat and is often done at weekends, weddings or private parties.
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“I’ve been playing para ice hockey for coming up on nine years and still love the sport to this day, but there are around 30 in the men’s GB programme and of the 15 rostered for the competition roughly half are in need of funding.”
When asked why supporting events like this is so important, his response was as simple and inspiring: “Without the funding, a lot of athletes all over the country will be able to compete in a sport they love and it would be an absolute honour for any of us to play internationally for our country again.”
Having nearly amassed half of his £2k target already with just over a month until the World Championships start, Dean and others like Josh Davies, Damien Barker, Jodi Hill and fellow Mayhem player Mark Colquitt are hoping to raise enough money in time for everyone to travel.
The time, money and graft that all of these wonderful individuals put in outside of everyday life is truly inspiring and serves as a reminder that more funding is still needed across various sporting disciplines.
If you want to help do your bit, you can help donate to Dean’s fundraiser HERE and we wish the British Para Ice Hockey team all the best for this year’s tournament.
Featured Images — Dean Lahan (via GoFundMe) British Para Ice Hockey
Sport
A Manchester-based runner has broken an ultramarathon record by running across the desert
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester has a growing obsession with running and endurance events, in particular, did you hear about a locally based runner who’s set the record for legging it across a literal desert?
That’s some ‘Hardest Geezer’ stuff right there.
Yes, whether it’s the likes of the Great MCR Run and October Half, the fully fledged Manchester Marathon, or dare we say it, an extra hard ultra, the region seems to be absolutely chock-full of runners and events these days.
That being said, despite being inspired by countless individuals over the past few years, the feat that has impressed us most this year is the incredible achievement by one man: Alex Welch from Wilmslow.
We’re pretty sure this is the bloke The Pretenders must have been talking about.
Based right here in 0161, by day Alex Welch is employed as a senior cyber security sales specialist at a major European IT services company, SCC, over in Stretford.
However, by both day and night for a full working week late last month, the 29-year-old swapped his computers for a very sturdy pair of running trainers; trail shoes, to be specific, as he trekked across the Namib Desert in Africa.
Stretching more than 2,000 kilometres in total, spanning the reaches of Angola, Namibia and parts of South Africa, the talented distance runner ran approximately 12.5% of that entire landmass over the course of five days.
Broken up into five stages – 50km, 50k, 42k and 22k, as well as a truly brutal 92k day to finish – not only did the indefinable Cheshire-born bloke reach the finish line, but he did so in record time.
Let’s be honest, anyone challenging themselves with the course is clearly an absolute machine, but as seen above and now fully verified, Alex here did so in 24 hours and 27 minutes.
Taking just over a day to complete the entire thing, Alex led every beating everyone else in every single stage and ended up surpassing legendary American ultra runner and now race director Adam Kimble’s time from 2018 by almost 40 whole minutes. Utterly staggering stuff.
Signing up as an official OOSH-sponsored athlete for the event, having only just podiumed at the Ice Ultra round the Arctic Circle back in February, AND the Mountain Ultra across Kyrgyzstan this past June, he’s quite literally ‘endured blistering cold and scorching desert’ (one for Shrek 2 fans, there).
Commenting on the unbelievable achievement, the local lad said: “Namibia was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. The heat was on another level, and every stage demanded absolute focus. To come away with the win – and a course record – is overwhelming.
“After the Arctic and Kyrgyzstan, this was the challenge I had been building towards all season. I’m grateful for everyone who has supported me, particularly my colleagues at SCC who have backed me every step of the way.”
Well done, Alex – we’re off to have a lie down because we’re tired just thinking about what you’ve just done, so hope you’ve at least got a few weeks of relaxation and victory pints lined up. That’s how we toasted our taste of an ultra, anyway…
Manchester City are hosting special Christmas-themed tours of the Etihad Stadium
Danny Jones
Manchester City FC’s critically acclaimed stadium tour is about to get super festive, as the Etihad Stadium are now hosting special Christmas-themed walks around the ground.
You’ve watched the tales of the ‘Centurions’, ‘Treble winners, the ‘Fourmidables’, and plenty of other ‘Cityzen’ stories play out in front of you, but have you visited the hallowed halls while their decked doughs of holly for yourself?
Well, now’s your chance.
Hosting a series of exclusive festive tours around the Etihad this month, Man City fans, club-obsessed kids, and football fanatic tourists in general can take a walk around the impressive sporting arena for the perfect early Christmas present.
In addition to being able to walk around the famous home of the Blues, sit in the home team dressing room and see the trophy cabinet, fans of all ages can now field questions with virtual Pep and Haaland in their very own press conference, before walking down the tunnel, into the dugout and sitting pitchside.
Once you’ve finished warming up the gaffer’s very own seat (they’re actually already heated), supporters can look forward to a brand-new dancing light display, plus more heartwarming entertainment in the form of Christmas carol audio recorded by Manchester’s very own Hallé Youth Choir.
As if that wasn’t enough, ‘Beyond the Blue Moon’ VR experiences and special ‘Etihad After Dark’ tours will be available, too, giving people from all over and of all ages an extra opportunity to turn up and make the most of this truly global club.
You can even grab a warming mulled wine or hot Vimto during the evening slots to keep your hands nice and toasty as you go around – be rude not to.
Rumour has it Santa may have left a gift lying around each day, too. Safe to say that puts our Advent calendar this year to shame…
Credit: Man City (supplied)
Here’s hoping he doesn’t get a telling off for wearing red…
Evening tours at the Eithad will be held from 5:30 and 6pm on 7, 12, 14, 18, 22 and December, and the main slot will be running all the way up until Christmas Eve (24 Dec).
You can even grab a warming mulled wine or hot Vimto to keep your hands nice and toasty as you go around – be rude not to.
Tickets start from only £26 per person and family passes are priced at just £60.
Better still, you can even spring for the VIP package if you fancy: a two-hour experience that is one of the most interactive and immersive you’ll find anywhere.
The Etihad Stadium is currently in the middle of a huge redevelopment, both in terms of size and things to do around the wider Campus, with the expanded North Stand not only seeing matchday fan capacity increased to over 60k, but a new club shop, sky bar, hotel, and a rooftop walk being added.
With that in mind, it’s no wonder that the already award-winning City stadium tours are simultaneously seeing an upgrade over the holiday period.
Being given the Tripadvisor seal of approval once again last year, as the club were once again recognised in the Travellers’ Choice ‘Best of the Best’ – putting them not just in the top three stadium tours in the UK but in the top 1% of the most highly rated in the world – things are only getting bigger.
You can find out full availability, timings and where to get tickets right HERE.
Danny Jones -
6th March 2024 
