Shufflers’ marathon efforts reap a rich reward for charities
A number of charities were enjoying a capital gain thanks to the exploits of Shropshire Shufflers.
Twenty six members of the Shrewsbury-based running club were among the 40,000 runners who took part in the London Marathon.
Some of the club’s contingent were making their marathon debuts, while many were raising money for charity.
And the total sponsorship received by Shufflers was in excess of £25,000. Beneficiaries of this funding will include national causes such as Barnardo’s, Save the Children and Macmillan Cancer Support, and local charities like the Lingen Davies Cancer Fund and the Severn Hospice.
For Sam Ostermeyer, it was the culmination of a year’s fundraising in aid of the Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA), after his father was diagnosed with the disease in December 2017.
Other challenges Sam has undertaken include the Yorkshire Three Peaks, the National Three Peaks and the Cotswold 24 Hour Race. He achieved his goal of finishing the marathon in under three-and-a-half hours and has raised over £14,000 for MNDA during the past 12 months.
Chris Whiteley was running his first ever marathon in support of Kidney Research UK. Father-of-one Chris lives with kidney disease, and his diagnosis was one of the main reasons why he started running in 2017.
Not only did Chris smash his fundraising target of £2,000, but he also completed the course in a creditable four hours 54 minutes.
Libby Collinson ran an outstanding race to finish third in the 60-64 age group, and, incredibly, Phil Jones improved his own 40-44 club record by more than 10 minutes.
Richard Price also posted a new club record in the 35-39 age group. The oldest Shuffler competing in London was Iain Day, who came home 28th in 70-74 age category, while the youngest was teenager Harry Hammonds.
Other Shufflers who took part were; Euan Balmer, Joel Bishton, Nicola Bishton, Rob Corcoran, Kim Harris, Rachel Harvey, Charlie Holland, Marilyn Hunt, Richard Hunter, Anna Iley, Emma Kay, Pam O’Carroll, Steve Oliver, Richard Pepper, Mark Perez, Nicholas Pollock, Ian Robinson, Stuart Smith and Sharon Williams.
