Franny Benali continued to run through the pain barrier as he reached the halfway point of his 1,000-mile run.

The Saints legend ran another 42 miles via Leicester City’s Walkers Stadium alongside the club’s ex-Saints midfielder Dean Hammond.

He will tick off two more clubs when he drops in at Aston Villa and West Brom this morning.

But his right knee is continuing to give him pain as he prepares for the second half of his gruelling journey, in aid of Cancer Research UK.

“I was struggling a bit for the first five or six miles and battled through the last eight,” said Benali, who stayed between Nuneaton and Tamworth last night.

“I had a few pit stops and my physio was excellent with the roadside treatment she gave me.

“I had to dig deep, and psychologically it’s good to have reached ten of the 20 clubs and be about halfway through the mileage.

“It was also great to be joined by Dean, he ran for quite a few miles with me.”

You can follow Franny’s progress on Twitter @Benalisbigrun and at jellyfishlivewire.co.uk/benalis-big-run/map.

To donate, go to justgiving.com/BenalisBigRun or text BIGR55 followed by the amount you would like to donate (EG £1, £3, £5, £10) to 70070.

For example, if you want to donate £10 text BIGR55 £10 to 70070.