POACHER the Imp will be running for glory when he takes part

in the Mascot Grand National.

The Lincoln City mascot has signed up to compete in the

annual mascot race at Huntingdon Racecourse on October 5. The

frantic one furlong race will raise money for the Willow

Foundation, which funds and organises special days for

seriously ill 16 to 40 year olds throughout the UK.

Gary Hutchinson (29), from Newtoft, near Lincoln, has been

Poacher for 10 years and said he was hoping to improve on a

best finish of 12th in 2004.

"I have run the race four or five times and I have done the

last two years on the bounce," he said. "The race is a little

more manic than it looks on TV and you do get carried away in

it all.

"The novelty feet are not the problem in the race but it is

getting the air into the suit.

"I would not change being Poacher for the world. It is the

best unpaid job I have ever had."

Click

here to watch the Mascot Grand National from 2006.