'No matter what happens in the derby, I'll be running for my brother on Sunday'

On Saturday their eyes will be trained on Anfield as Liverpool and Everton face off in the latest instalment of their long-standing rivalry. With loyalties split down the middle on derby day, the Dowling WhatsApp group will be a little livelier than usual.

As Everton’s first-team physical performance coach and a lifelong Blue, Jack Dowling will be in the away dugout, praying for a victory for Sean Dyche’s side.

His older brother Tom, meanwhile, will be on the Kop, hoping Jürgen Klopp’s Reds can continue their strong start to the new season.

“It’s always a good laugh on derby day,” says Jack. “I’m the only Blue in the household, so there’s always a lot of toing and froing, but I’m super-confident for Saturday’s game. I have to be!”

Whatever the result, however, on Sunday morning Jack will be pulling on his running shoes and embarking upon the biggest and most gruelling challenge of his life.

He plans to run 26 marathons across the next 26 weeks, finishing with the London Marathon in April, and all in the name of his big brother.

“Tom was diagnosed with bowel cancer 18 months ago,” Jack explains to Liverpoolfc.com. “Then in the summer, we found out that it was terminal.

“From that moment I was like, ‘Right, I need to do something.’ I wanted to do something a bit crazy, to get people’s attention and raise awareness, so I came up with the idea of doing 26 marathons in 26 weeks, with the last one being the London Marathon.

“My first one is on Sunday. It wasn’t planned to land on derby weekend, but it’s kind of fitting the way it’s fallen.

“I’m a Blue and my brother is a Red; but no matter what happens on Saturday, I’ll be running for my brother on Sunday.”

Throughout the challenge, Jack will be raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support, the UK’s leading cancer care charity. His initial aim was to raise £5,000, but with the backing of Everton’s senior squad, as well as Reds boss Klopp, who has written a message of support in his programme notes for Saturday’s game, that target has already been revised upwards.

Now, he hopes to raise £32,250 – a total that would fund a Macmillan nurse for 26 weeks.

“The reaction has been pretty overwhelming, to be fair,” he says. “I haven’t run a mile yet, so to have raised the amount of money I’ve raised so far, I just didn’t expect it.

“I never expected it to be so big. For me, the idea of running 26 marathons never scared me. Maybe I’m a little bit crazy, I don’t know! But now, with the way it’s going, people are saying we need to push it on.

“At the moment, to fund a Macmillan nurse for 26 weeks, it’s £32,250, so with me running for 26 weeks, I thought let’s set that as a target and see where we can get.

“Then if we get to that, where else can we go?”

He adds: “I just want to raise awareness for Macmillan and what they do, not just for my brother and my family, but for any other family that needs them too.

“What they do is incredible. They offer so much advice and support, in so many areas and for so many families, and I want people to see that.”

Jack also hopes his challenge and the exposure around it – he and his brother will be part of TNT Sports’ pre-match coverage ahead of the derby – can help others who may find themselves in a similar situation.

“My brother is only 35, so we’ve been really unfortunate,” he says. “You’d never expect to have something like this at such a young age.

“So raising awareness of his situation is huge. Especially for men, where perhaps there’s a stigma around going to the doctor’s and getting checked.

“For me, the message is simple: if you feel something, just go and get checked, because you just never know.

“That’s the aim of the challenge, really. If it gets out there and if it helps someone go and get checked, or if it helps another family to get the support they need from Macmillan, then that’s what I’m doing it for.

“It’s not just for Tom, it’s for everyone.”

You can support Jack in his challenge here.

Klopp’s message of support for the Dowling family

“This is a special rivalry. Again, this is not in any doubt. I have been asked many times if I agree that it is the friendly derby and, trust me, when you are as close to the action as I am it is sometimes hard to align that idea with the games that I watch. But I think what makes it different is that the people know what matters most and have a way of coming together which is, to use that word again, special.

“I was reminded of that earlier this week when I was told about an Everton fan who is running 26 marathons in 26 weeks to raise funds for Macmillan after his brother, a Liverpool fan, was diagnosed with bowel cancer. That is the spirit of this city and of this rivalry. We have families that are split but at the same time they are together.

“So on behalf of Liverpool FC, I would like to wish Jack Dowling the very best of luck with his marathon challenge and also to let Tom Dowling know that he has the support of everyone here.”