Nine runners complete London Marathon for USPG

They did it! USPG’s nine marathon runners were among 37,000 entrants taking part in the London Marathon on Sunday.

A number of USPG’s runners were completing their first marathons. The Revd Richard Sewell, vicar of St Mark’s in Wimbledon, had to complete another sort of marathon just to get to the starting line. Richard and his family were stranded in Morocco after air flights were cancelled due to volcanic ash in the atmosphere. So they undertook a four-day overland journey, going through Tangiers, Gibraltar, Barcelona and Paris, travelling by car, boat, train and ferry.

After completing what was his first marathon, Richard said: ‘I’m exhausted, tired and emotional. I knew it was going to be hard, but the crowd was amazing and the sense of achievement at the end was enormous.’

He added: ‘It’s so much more than a race. It’s very emotional to see all these people running for charities that have touched their lives in some way.’

Fellow first-timer Claire Goodman said: ‘The weather was perfect and everyone was enormously friendly. I beat Lorraine Kelly, although she got rather more attention at the end than I did!’

Verity Brooke-Maples, a nurse from Swindon, said: ‘It was a completely new experience. I started the race feeling very excited and really nervous, because I could have trained harder, and I ended in disbelief that I had finished!’

Verity said she couldn’t run and adjust the music playing through her headphones, so she listened to the same Christian CD all the way round. ‘But it was inspiring,’ she said. ‘The lyrics were saying that God would support you even when you can’t go on and your bones are aching.’

She added: ‘I also thought about what Brother Andrew said about his car: when it runs out of petrol, it runs on prayer. I think the most important thing was that people in my church [Christ Church, Swindon] were praying for me.’

Also inspired by a musical selection was former USPG Mission Companion Helen Chatfield, whose friends sponsored her by paying to put tunes on her iPod – ranging from classical music to Agadoo, and including encouraging messages, such as her daughter shouting: ‘Are you crazy? Go!’

‘Whenever I heard that I smiled and the crowd noticed and cheered, so it had a real effect. The crowd was amazing; people were cheering so loudly I couldn’t hear half my songs.’

IT worker Dan Thomas, from Herefordshire, was also pleased to complete his first marathon, concluding: ‘Never again!’

Running in her ninth marathon, teacher Caroline Horder had trained with her running club, The Bournemouth Joggers. ‘My name was on my shirt so people were calling out my name – it was great to hear. I was glad to be running for a good cause.’

Aged 72, Anne Chamberlain, from Filey, completed her sixth London Marathon. She presented each of her five grandchildren with one of her London Marathon medals, so she said the sixth medal would go to her husband. She said: ‘It was fantastic. I met some lovely people to talk to.’

The Revd Tony Attwood, from Dudley, is also an experienced marathon runner. A lack of training meant this year’s race was a tough challenge, but he said he found enough energy at the end to try and gee up the crowd and get them cheering.

Our most prolific marathon runner was 75-year old Chris Howell, from Southgate, who completed his 24th race. He said: ‘It was fantastic, like a party. My daughter walked with me for three miles, which was good. One of the highlights was being sprayed with holy water by a priest who was blessing the runners.’

All the runners raised money for USPG work around the world, with most raising funds for healthcare provided by the Anglican Church in Malawi.

• You can still sponsor any of USPG’s intrepid runners. Follow the links above to access their donation pages, or phone USPG on 0845 273 1701.

• There are many opportunities to run for USPG this year. Please contact Bola Sofela on 020 7378 5690 or email enquiries@uspg.org.uk if you would like to take part in the British 10k London run (11 July); Bristol Half-Marathon (5 September); Adidas Women’s 5K (5 September); Great North Run (13.1 miles, 19 September); Birmingham Half Run (13.1 miles, 11 October); or Great South Run (10 miles, 24 October).

Posted on 27.04.2010