Kate’s Virtual London Marathon
The Oxford Mail report can be found here:
https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/18776144.oxfordshire-solicitor-runs-two-london-marathons-charity/
but the original full report is below:
Kate runs second London Marathon for SeeSaw
A member of Eynsham Roadrunners braved the torrential rain and fierce winds of Storm Alex to complete her second London Marathon of 2020 on Sunday 4 October, raising over a thousand pounds for a charity supporting bereaved children, young people and their families.
Kate Allred who lives in Osney had already run a solo marathon in aid of the local mental health recovery charity Bridewell Gardens on the event’s original date in April. But she decided to do it again in last weekend’s Virgin Virtual Marathon, which saw 45,000 people taking part across the UK to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the iconic London race.
Kate, 51, only took up running in 2016. She competes with Eynsham Roadrunners (where she holds a number of club records), and has also qualified to run for England in the women’s veteran category. She works as a wills and probate solicitor with the Witney law firm Lee Chadwick, and committed to raising funds for SeeSaw after she dealt with a particularly traumatic case involving a sudden death in a family with young children.
Mostly following the course of the annual Abingdon Marathon (which like most others was cancelled this year because of the Coronavirus), Kate had originally hoped to post her first ever sub-three-hour time. But the atrocious weather decided otherwise, and she finished in three hours, 23 minutes and 56 seconds. Fellow local athletes, Sam Upton from Witney Roadrunners, and Kenny Lowies and Andy Phelps from Headington Roadrunners helped with Kate’s training and ran part of the distance with her, and she was escorted throughout by a drenched team of enthusiastic cycle outriders from the Eynsham club.
Continues…
Even with some previous marathons and hundreds of training miles under her belt for this run, Kate found it one of the hardest. “I had a lot of pain my pelvis and my hips were rigid because of the cold. Without the motivation of raising money for SeeSaw and the support of all my friends and clubmates, I might have given up – but that’s what the spirit of the London Marathon is all about,” she said after finishing. It was also a special moment for Kate, who had trained for the London marathon three times before, but then missed out each time because of injury.
Simon Walker, the Chair of Eynsham Roadrunners, praised Kate for her extraordinary two-London-Marathons effort. As part of the group who accompanied her all the way by bike, he said: “We’re all tremendously proud of Kate. This year’s pandemic has made the health benefits of running and the causes for which she’s run these two marathons more important than ever.” Resting at home after completing the 26.2 mile course, Kate said: “My time wasn’t what I hoped for, but I’m so grateful to everyone who’s donated to help children affected by bereavement. I’ll focus now on getting ready for next year’s London Marathon!”
