‘I have world record for fastest red card as a goalie – now I’m a marathon man’

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    Preston Edwards is best known for his moment of madness ten seconds into a game – now he is becoming a marathon man.

    You may not know the goalkeeper by name, but you've probably seen the viral footage. A clip of Edwards being sent off in the opening seconds of a game back in 2011 has racked up over 11million views on YouTube.

    It's believed to be the fastest-ever sending off for a goalkeeper with the then-Ebbsfleet United shotstopper seeing red, but now Edwards is looking to last a lot longer as he plans for this year's TCS London Marathon.

    READ MORE: Bloke was spotted winning the London Marathon after sprinting past pro athletes

    "It's something that happened, and I can tell people, but at the time I was fuming," Edwards, 34, tells Daily Star Sport of the red card. "Now I look back at it, and you've got to be proud of it."

    He was back in the changing room before many punters had even got their spot on the terraces in the clash against Farnborough, which the Fleet lost 3-0.

    The Kent side got their own back in the play-off final that same season, beating Boro to reach the top tier of non-league and give Edwards his second promotion medal.

    The goalkeeper has since been promoted a further three times, though he's got his heart set on another medal as he prepares to run the 26.2 miles through London on April 23.

    "It's tough, but I've strangely enjoyed the regimented training," he added. "I've got to do the training because I don't want to struggle on raceday.

    "I've stuck to a programme and it's benefited me. If you want to do these distances it's difficult if you don't do the training.

    "It's been difficult with football training, my legs are a bit more tired than usual. I'm trying to balance it and making sure I recover well, do lots of stages of recovery such as swimming and icing my legs.

    "I've done football from a very young age and keeping active has always been very important. I'm a goalkeeper so I'm not necessarily doing aerobic running, so I've had to adapt to that just to get used to the long distances. But being an athlete has helped."

    Former Millwall goalkeeper Edwards is raising funds for the National Autistic Society – a charity close to his heart after his young son Rios was diagnosed with autism.

    The keeper, who is also a maths teacher, is keen to spread awareness around autism and has already raised close to £2,000 with four weeks until the TCS London Marathon.

    "I didn't have any awareness whatsoever before my son was diagnosed," Edwards said. "I was lost with all the information and didn't know how to react to things, or how to include these people in everyday practise.

    "It's all I know, he's my first born, but it's made me a better person. I know that he has to stick to a similar routine, and he doesn't like doing things out of routine.

    "But it's about getting on with it. I don't let him get his own way, he might stamp his feet but most kids do that. It's about making sure he feels safe and can achieve whatever he wants to achieve.

    "It's very important for me to spread as much awareness as I can, especially with me being in education as well. It's not just autism, there are other needs which other people have."

    Preston Edwards will run the TCS London Marathon 2023 on April 23. You can donate here

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