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<\/p>\nA former Premier League striker has Mount Everest in his sights after scaling one of the tallest peaks in Europe \u2013 despite not being a fan of heights.<\/p>\n
Darius Henderson, who played for Watford in the English top flight in the late 2000s, has become a seasoned mountain climber, with Mont Blanc, which stands around 5,000m above sea level, one of his conquests. The 42-year-old, who also played for Reading, Gillingham, Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United during a well-travelled career, says facing his fears is one of his key motivations as he is \u201cnot actually that great with heights\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo put myself in those scenarios, I\u2019m already trying to question what is actually driving me to do this,\u201d Henderson told The Independent. \u201cIt must be something I search out and look for in life. It does scare me a little bit, to overcome my fears is probably a driving force behind this, I can only put it down to that. <\/p>\n
READ MORE: Man Utd resorted to drastic measures with Jadon Sancho \u2013 like 'lying about start times' <\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cAlso, it\u2019s not something within arm\u2019s reach. I have to dedicate a lot of time to the training aspect, something that needs planning. It\u2019s a sacrifice over a number of years.\u201d<\/p>\n
He is now in training as he looks to become the first footballer to scale Mount Everest, which stands at 8,849m.<\/p>\n
What do you think about Henderson's mountain-climbing exploits? Tell us in the comments section below<\/i> <\/b><\/p>\n
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\u201cYou can\u2019t just sign up for Mount Everest,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a process and a journey, which takes a lot of sacrifice and dedication to achieve that end goal, so it\u2019s kind of like reliving my life as a footballer. The training, the focus you need, the bravery, just in a different field.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, the ultimate goal was to score in the Premier League. That was my \u2018climbing Mount Everest\u2019 when I was a footballer. I did that, and I think there\u2019s less than 0.1 per cent of footballers who can say they\u2019ve done that.<\/p>\n
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\u201cClimbing Mount Everest, the odds to be able to say you\u2019ve stood on top of the highest mountain in the world, the percentage of people is even lower. To be able to say \u2018I\u2019ve done Everest'… I wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s selfish but it is ego-driven.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I missed [about football after retirement] was the routine, that purpose to be healthy, to go to work and so on. You lose something. Retirement, it\u2019s like a family member or friend has passed and you\u2019re looking at old photos of them knowing you\u2019re never going to see them again."<\/p>\n