Family inspired by footballer’s struggle
FRIEND AND FORMER MAGPIE IS AN AMBASSADOR FOR CHARITY
THREE generations of a Nottinghamshire family will race to support the charity endorsed by a former Notts County player and family friend.
Seven members of the Ellis family will take part in the Robin Hood Mini Marathon, while another will take part in the half marathon, to raise money for Head for Change which supports sportsmen who are affected by neurodegenerative disease as a result of their professional career.
The oldest runners will be grandparents Geraldine Ellis, 71, and Paul Ellis, 72, who live in West Bridgford.
The couple’s daughter Rachel Whelan, 39, from Ruddington will be racing in the half marathon while her two sons Oliver, 8, and Matthew, 5, take part in the mini marathon.
Rachel’s sister, Karen Silvester, 39, will travel from Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire to take part in the mini marathon along with her two daughters Emily, 10, and Rosie, 7.
Geraldine, who came up with the idea, said that it was her friendship with former Notts County and England captain Dave Watson, who is an ambassador with the Head for Change and was recently diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease, that inspired the fundraising.
The family have set a rough target of £500, but hope to raise more.
“We’re friends with Dave and his wife Penny. Once we heard about it a affecting Dave, we thought it was a great idea to do this to raise money for the charity.
“Footballers in recent years from that era have had a lot of problems, I think it’s awful.
“If we could raise a fair bit of money between us that would be lovely for everyone involved.
“I know that the charity are behind us and think it’s something a bit different.
“Even just if our friends between us pitch in we’ll be able to get a lot of money and it all makes a difference I think.
“All will be running at different paces, but one thing for sure is that they all intend to finish and raise money for the charity.”
But Geraldine admitted she was not looking forward to the race itself, despite her ambition to raise as much money as possible.
She added: “I’m the idiot that likes to go out on a zipwire and do high intensity workouts at a gym. But I hate running, I absolutely loathe it. I don’t mind anything with short bursts of energy but as soon as I start running I’m exhausted. I’ve done a couple of practice runs and I’ve had to walk a bit. When I try to run it’s usually 20 minutes of hell.
“There won’t be many people in their 70s making their way around but there’s not going to be any competitiveness, it’s going to be a fun, very unserious day.”