“On 11th September I ran my first Half Marathon to raise money for CRY. I ran in memory of a family friend, Sarah Gamble who passed away suddenly last year.
She was only 26 when she passed away, it all happened so quickly & with no real explanation for her sudden death I found it hard to come to terms with how someone so young & full of life can just die.

She was only a few weeks only than me & I always admired her positive outlook & how full of energy she was! I needed a positive focus, something to work towards for myself but mainly to do something in memory of Sarah & raise as much money as possible. The furthest I’d run before this, was only 5k so I took the challenge on to run 21k & complete my first half marathon.

I was quite nervous on the day, seeing so many runners all looking the part in their running vests that I felt quite daunted by the challenge. I kept thinking though that everyone is here to raise money for their chosen charities & the atmosphere really lifted my spirits. I have to say, its the hardest thing I’ve ever done running that distance but the main thing keeping me going was Sarah & knowing how much money I had raised for doing this.

One tough part of the course was a long uphill climb around mile 6, I had to walk part of it to get my breath & take a drink. Then a couple of girls ran from behind me & tapped me on the back & said “amazing charity, keep going” & then I realised this couple were running for CRY too & that really spurred me on to get up that hill.

Finishing the race was the best feeling ever, the biggest sense of achievement that I had completed it & raised over £700. All the hard work through sweat, tears & laughter was all so worth it. Altogether I’ve raised £718!”

Kate Wright