Wasps gather charity funds in marathons
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ALMOST 20 members of Widnes Wasps Ladies Running Club are taking on spring marathons this April and May with many of them raising large sums of cash.
First up were Helen Moore, Agata Rutkowska, Michele Lindsay, Helen Davies and Nicola Daley, who took on the 26.2-mile run in Manchester on Sunday, April 2.
Helen Moore, 49, of Rainhill, took on the Asics Greater Manchester Marathon to support the Dwarf Sports Association to pay for a Team GB kit when it competes at the World Dwarf Games in Canada this August.
She had already exceeded her £600 target before setting off.
The cause is one close to her heart as her daughter Samantha, 12, was born with Achondroplasia, the most common form of dwarfism.
Nicola Daley, 49, from Prescot, has joined forces with Helen to help raise funds for the Dwarf Sports Association.
Next up on April 9 are Emma Buckley, Sandra Bentley and Hayley MacGugan, all from ● ● Julie Moses, who will run the London Marathon, and Manchester runners Helen Moore, Helen Davies, Michele Lindsay and Nicola Daley Runcorn, who are travelling to the south coast to tackle the Brighton Marathon.
For Sandra it will be her ninth marathon in three years – and she is due to take on a 10th in Liverpool in May.
On April 23, Widnes Wasps will have five runners in the Virgin London Marathon.
Among them is Beth Andrews, 29, of Widnes, also competing in her first marathon and running with husband Chris to raise funds for Cardiac Risk In The Young.
Lining up alongside her in London will be Widnes Wasps club secretary Julie Moses, 51, of Rainhill, who earned her place after achieving a ‘good for age’ time at last year’s Manchester Marathon, where she finished in three hours, 51 minutes and 26 seconds.
Meanwhile, Helen Beckett, of Burtonwood, is running her fifth marathon – and second London – while Sarah Seddon, of Widnes, and Kate Critchley are both making their marathon debuts.
Kate, 46, and also of Widnes, was the lucky ‘winner’ of the London Marathon club place that Widnes Wasps are awarded each year by UK Athletics.
Later marathons include the Brathay Marathon in Windermere on May 21, in which Rachel Kuypers, Joanne Moyers and Lynsay Adair will compete, and the Liverpool Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon on May 28, which will see Wasps Carolyn Rigby, Stacey Clark and Vicky Ferguson in its line-up.
Helen Moore said: “It’s my first full marathon and I’m a bit apprehensive about running but I’ve had the other girls as my support team in training and I’m sure they’ll help me to cross the finish line.
“A chance meeting whilst I was running introduced me to the Dwarf Sports Association and Samantha now competes in swimming and track and field events.
“Samantha loves competing and she has not let her short stature hold her back.”
Sandra Bentley said: “I chose Brighton because it’s one I haven’t done. Training is going well.”
Beth Andrews, said: “They supported me when I had my heart condition and needed an operation in January 2016 and had to defer my marathon place until this year.
“Our target was £1,900 and so far we’ve raised £2,577.
“Training is going great and we’re up to 21 miles.”
Kate Critchley said: “I’m so excited and very proud and privileged to be representing Widnes Wasps.
“It’s my first marathon and the Trimpell 20 in Lancaster a couple of weeks ago was my longest distance to date.
“Up until a year ago, I’d never run further than a 5k parkrun and only ran once a week at most.
“I’ve set up a Just Giving page for Cancer Research as I lost my dad three years ago after a three-month battle with a very aggressive brain tumour.
“He never liked running and thought exercise was a waste of time, but I’m sure he’d be secretly quite proud that I was part of a club that has been running, quite literally, for 30 years!” ● ● ●