“At 10pm on 1st July 2012, 24 South Downs Relay runners gathered the last of their energy and crossed the finish line in Winchester, Hampshire. The day had started at 2am, when the first runners had driven the 100miles to Eastbourne, East Sussex, to start the epic course at 5am.
What followed was an amazing journey in memory of a much loved friend, Alex Watley, who died suddenly on 30th December 2011 at the age of 23. The relay legs varied from 18km to 2km, each posing a challenge to runners of all abilities who turned out on the day to run their part. Despite hitting some bad weather near along the route, all of the runners put in an astounding effort to keep to their leg times. They arrived home 17 hours later to the cheers of friends and family.
The support before and on the day was overwhelming; the Co-op in Alresford giving us the money for “goodie bags” for each of the runners, the people that helped out at HQ directing drivers and ensuring runners were accounted for at all times, the strangers in the car parks cheering everyone on, and most of all to the people who gave generously to the online fundraising page, bringing our current total raised by the event to £2094.42. We all can’t wait for next year!!”
Rachael and the team
