Stratford athletes raise thousands for good causes
ATHLETICS
SEVERAL members of Stratford AC took part in this month’s Virtual London Marathon and raised thousands of pounds for good causes.
Kate Sargent raised over £1,000 for Stratford Foodbank, a charity close to her heart which has seen its service called upon more since the pandemic and lockdown.
Sargent ran from Birmingham to Stratford along the tow path in a time of 5:06.08.
“It felt more like a cross country run with floods and mud galore,” said Sargent.
“I absolutely loved every minute and it made me realise what a great club we are part of. I was pleased with my official time as I know it would have been better in better conditions.”
Andrew Cox started running marathons for charity after losing his mom to cancer and he completed the event in a new PB of 2:58.53.
Cox said: “The 4th October would have been my mom’s 73rd birthday so it gave the day a sense of occasion.
"The first 13.1 miles was run on my own in just under 1:28. On the second half, I was very kindly joined by fellow Stratford AC member Seth Turner, who managed to keep me on a 1:30 half pace with his words of encouragement and support.
"At 5k out I realised I had a shot at a sub-three-hour time. As each kilometre passed we kept ticking them off one by one, digging deep."
Nic Reynolds had a place in the London Marathon, but after suffering injuries that stopped her from training, she decided to walk the 26.2 miles for Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance, raising over £500 and clocking a time of 7:38.11.
“I had a great day despite the weather. I set out at 7am and it rained most of the day apart from a brief spell of sunshine.
"My time was not a personal best in terms of marathon,s but I had fun and was grateful to the friends who joined me.”
Annie Threadgill and Kate Duke signed up for the Isle of Wight Marathon to raise money for a good cause that they are both very involved with, the Robert Dover’s Cotswold Olimpick Games which is a four-century-old annual festival event that happens in Chipping Campden on the first Friday after Whitsun.
With a combined effort from the local community, games followers and a generous shirt sponsorship from The Berkley Care Group – who operate Leycester House in Warwick – they have so far been able to raise over £2,700 towards next year’s games – which cost £25,000 to stage.
Threadgill chose the Isle of Wight because it’s known affectionately as ‘The Sunshine Island’ due to the number of clear days it enjoys each year.
However, she said: “I cannot remember a more stubbornly awful day, with heavy rain being driven into our faces by 60mph winds.”
Threadgill and Duke completed the marathon along fellow Stratford AC stalwarts Karl Harris, Emily Adams and Cara Reynolds.
Reynolds and Adams ran together with both recording a time of 3:51.41, finishing in 56th and 57th place respectively.
They were the eighth and ninth females to finish and third and fourth in their age category.
Harris finished in a time of 4:37.14 and was placed 134th overall and 14th in his age category, while Threadgill recorded a time of 5:34.13, finishing in 164th place and tenth in her age category.
