Thank you fabulous London Marathon runners!
Congratulations to our phenomenal team of Virgin London Marathon runners who took on the 26.2 mile challenge to raise vital funds in support of our work. Tracy Clarke-Wolfe, Dan Harrison, Ben Raven and Antonia Woodbine all took on the Virgin Money on Sunday 23rd April to raise more than £5,500 (so far!).
We asked our runners how they found the day.
Tracy Clarke-Wolfe
Tracy decided to fundraise for Hearing Link to raise more awareness of our services as we are a ‘very worthwhile cause’. Says Tracy, “It truly was one the best days of my life! Definitely the most challenging, but well worth it especially after overcoming an injury earlier on in the year with my Achilles tendons. But after taking time out and resting until the 13th Feb, then I really got cracking with my Marathon Training Plan. I ran every other day adding a mile each time, and went on to completing my dream and finishing the marathon in four hours 57 minutes.”
Antonia Woodbine
Antonia was very keen to support Hearing Link as many of her close family members have hearing related issues. She said she wanted ‘to raise awareness of what it is like to live with hearing issues, and how we cope and how things can be improved for families in order for them to live a wonderful life’. Antonia says, “I am proud to run for such a wonderful charity and spread the word that help and hope are available for those of us with hearing issues, or to encourage families to seek help to improve their quality of life.” Antonia completed the Marathon in a fantastic five hours and 39 minutes – a tremendous finish time for a young, first time Marathon runner!
Daniel Harrison
Dan’s family has a history of profound deafness with close family members reliant on hearing aids. He says, “I relished the opportunity to run for such a worthy and personal cause as Hearing Link in such a prestigious event as the London Marathon. I was going for sub four hours and was on course until 23 miles of non- stop running when I got crippling cramp in both quads. I ran so hard I had salt crystals on my face at the end. But the atmosphere was incredible all the way, from the excitement and tension at the start, through the half way point going over Tower Bridge, even when I was in excruciating pain being looked after by a Marshall, to crossing the finish line. It is a world class event and a truly life changing experience.”
Ben Raven
Ben works with a Deaf individual and found it ‘really inspiring how they could communicate with people despite their hearing loss’. It was because of this, that he was motivated to run for Hearing Link. Having run the marathon before, Ben knew exactly what was in store for him and how he needed to prepare. Regular fundraising and training this past year definitely paid off as he completed the Marathon in an amazing time of four hours and 43 minutes.
If you would like to run a marathon, skydive or fundraise for Hearing Link, please email fundraising@hearinglink.org today. We look forward to hearing from you.