Fridge-carrying London Marathon runner stopped by police who thought he was a thief

The fridge-carrying runner said that although the experience was 'embarrassing', he didn’t mind at all
A London marathon runner carrying a fridge was stopped by police
JustGiving
Jacob Phillips29 January 2024

A man who is training to run the London marathon carrying a fridge on his back has said he was stopped by police who nearly mistook him for a thief.

Daniel Fairbrother was stopped while training for his attempt to break the world record for the "fastest marathon carrying a household appliance (white goods)" by officers in Stevenage who said they had never seen anything like it before. 

He told the BBC officers quickly realised he was not stealing anything and the exchange ended in a handshake.

Mr Fairbrother said he was on his second run carrying the fridge 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 Mr Fairbrother explained his marathon challenge, he said the officer cracked a joke: telling him: “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 didn’t 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.”

The runner is aiming to raise money for Diabetes UK by carrying the fridge over 26 miles through central London in April.

He said: “It’s in support of my best mate Sam, who’s a Type 1 diabetic. I tried to undertake a challenge last year which didn’t go as planned, and I promised to come back bigger and stronger.”

A Hertfordshire Constabulary spokesman told the BBC: “We would like to wish Daniel all the best with training for the marathon”.

A fan of Cool Runnings, he has named the fridge Tallulah after the bobsleigh in the film.

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