article: One has attracted global celebrities and sports stars, and has been followed mile-by-mile on TV and at the roadside by millions of people. The other is lucky to get a solitary figure on a street corner cheering it on. But the differences between the official Olympic torch relay and the amateur Real Relay do not end there. While the official flame is stopped in its tracks every night, the Real Relay continues 24 hours a day as part of its non-stop journey around the British Isles. And later it will move in front of its official counterpart in Dover. "The Real Relay was conceived when we saw that the Olympic torch was spending a lot of time in the back of a van," says Kate Treleaven, one of the organisers. "We sensed a missed opportunity and set out to recruit real grassroots runners from around the British Isles to run all the way around the Olympic torch route." Instead of the golden Olympic torch carried on the official route, runners carry a metre-long baton which has a GPS tracker inside so people can follow the runners' progress. There are 672 stages of 10-to-12 miles in the relay, which started at Land's End in Cornwall on 28 May - 10 days behind the official one - and concludes at the Olympic Park in Stratford, east London, five days ahead of the torch relay. By the time it reaches London more than 2,000 runners will have taken part, covering 7,377 miles on foot, over 55 days and nights. In pictures: The Real Relay The Real Relay has had little publicity but word of mouth has seen it take off, Ms Treleaven says. She believes the tradition of a stripped-back relay without any "road support crew, sponsors and razzmatazz" is what appeals. Unlike the Olympic torch, which caught a train up Snowdon, the Real Relay ran up the biggest mountain in Wales, along with the other three highest peaks in Northern Ireland, England and Scotland. Runners are told where to begin and end their leg, but plan their own route which must take in each community listed on the Olympic torch route. But is it in competition with the official torch relay? Ms Treleaven says it is not an "anti-Olympic torch uprising" but a chance for those not involved to feel "a little bit closer to it". And unlike the torch relay, the challenge is raising money for the charity CHICKS, which provides free, week-long respite breaks for disadvantaged children. Each runner donates Â£10 to the charity and the organisers believe they will raise well over Â£10,000 in total. Barbara Shuttleworth, 54, ran the Real Relay's 400th stage through Manchester on a Saturday night, taking in Salford's Media City, Old Trafford and Moss Side. The leg ended on the "Curry Mile" in the centre of Rusholme, where restaurant-goers cheered on Mrs Shuttleworth, who ran with her husband Duncan, among others. "They were very good-natured but it was pretty surreal," says Mrs Shuttleworth, who runs an accountancy business. She adds: "I love the torch relay and
summary: A group of amateur runners following the route of the Olympic torch look set to overtake it later on - but unlike the official relay, they are running every step of the way.