On Sunday 11th March a team of 21 friends and family took part in the Cambridge Half Marathon in memory of Joe Herrington and have so far raised an amazing £8,292.03 from their run. “When I first saw that Cambridge was going to have it’s first half marathon for 18 years, I wondered who I knew that may want to run in Joe’s honour to raise money for CRY, I first rang Steve Bass who had expressed an interest in running the London Marathon but could not get accepted, Steve said yes please to the Cambridge run, then I rang Paul Carter, I knew he ran regularly and he jumped at the chance. Then it was the turn of Joe’s head coach at Cambridge Rugby club, David Cleaver, I asked and he said yes straight away.. So with three runners I e-mailed friends and rugby parents, asking for their support. Amazingly by the end of the day we had 15 runners and 2 relay teams of 3 running the event. Adi Venni, Jason Copeland, Judith Dixon, Cameron Murdoch, Adam and Carrie Glinsman, Andrew Townsend, Mojo Rathbone, Craig Nethercott, Debbie Roberts, Simon Rosen and Paul Rowe all signed up for the whole run. Andy and Gemma Gapper, Simon Gibbs were Team Gapper and Emily Walker, Faye Peckham and Joe’s sister Rebecca Herrington were Team Walker. Then 3 weeks before the event Jaki Harold contacted us to ask if she could run for Joe and CRY. Most of these were not “runners” and most had never attempted anything like this, at least not for a number of years. We could not have asked for better weather, although it may have been a bit warm for running, it was far better than the previous cold, wet windy Sunday. The day was perfect for all of the spectators to watch. Although the day was very emotional for Daniela and I, the feeling of pride out-weighed any sad thoughts. To think what all these people were going through for Joe and for us. It was a massive achievement for them and something they can truly be proud of. There were a variety of finish times, I didn’t manage to get a shot of Cameron running as he was so quick and I missed some of the relay teams. But when I saw the faces of them running, the look of determination and the look of pain on some, it really filled me with a sense of admiration. I know Joe was there watching with us, and we all knew he would have been laughing his head off at the grimacing on his coaches faces, but he would also have been cheering the loudest. After the run a few of us went back to the house for a well earned beer and sandwich. At this moment the marathon has raised over £10000 (including Gift Aid) with more pledges to come which will allow us to proceed with our 1st screening. Daniela and I sincerely thank each and every one of Team Joe, The Runners and their families and all the amazing sponsors.” Brad Herrington
