London calling for marathon runner Eileen
Raising funds for Strathtay Harriers
A Perth mum is getting ready to take on the London Marathon to raise money for a local sports club.
Eileen Wood will be running the gruelling 26.2 miles on Sunday, April 26 to try and raise some much-needed funds for Perth Strathtay Harriers.
Every year, the athletics club gets one spot on the London Marathon start-line - and Eileen jumped at the opportunity when it was offered.
She said: “Every athletics club in Scotland gets one place for London, so I stepped in to take the Perth spot.
“Hopefully this will raise some extra funds and raise the profile of the club - and let everyone know they can do anything they want to.
“I had always fancied it and wanted to do it for the atmosphere, so when the spot opened up I thought ‘why not? Lets just go for it’.”
Eileen is now training four times a week, including taking part in the Saturday morning parkrun, and going to the gym while her children are at training sessions with the Harriers.
She continued: “I am going to the gym to train but with the better weather coming I would rather go out for a run.
“I have been getting lots of support from the Harriers - they are even going to do a charity event while I am doing the marathon.
“I am looking forward to it, but I am nervous to get there and get to the start line.
“But it will be fantastic, it is a one in a million opportunity and I might never get the chance again.”
Eileen has already managed to raise £500 for the club, and says the money will be spent on new equipment at the George Duncan Athletics Arena, where the club trains.
She said: “A lot of the equipment is getting tired and worn, so we need a proper throwing cage and a new high jump, and these things are not cheap.
“The hire of the track keeps going up and up as well so it will also go towards keeping the facilities going.
“Although a lot of the athletes here do compete, I want to try and get more younger ones out to competitions as well.
“Lots of people who were Harriers in years past have been sponsoring me, people I have never even heard of, which is fantastic.
“They know how important this is.” To donate to Eileen’s marathon efforts for Perth Strathtay Harriers, visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ perthstrathtay