The organisers of two charity Santa Runs, believed to be Bradley Stoke’s first, say they are delighted with how the events went after all the places were sold out in advance and nearly 140 people took part.
Local running enthusiasts Karen Taylor and Vicky Lovell staged the two events to raise money for Parkinson’s UK, which is the charity they have chosen to support through their planned participation in the Dixons Carphone Race to the Stones in July 2018.
Speaking after the first event, on Saturday 2nd December, which attracted 60 runners and walkers on the day, Karen said:
“All our participants joined in the festive spirit, with some wonderful fancy dress, especially one of our 10k runners, who came as a 7ft Christmas tree!”
“We had really positive feedback from a number of the participants; it was especially popular with young families and new runners, who had just graduated from their ‘couch to 5k’ course.”
The second event, on Saturday 9th December, attracted just under 80 participants.
On the organisational side, Karen and Vicky say they had “wonderful support” from family and friends, as well as from local gym Anytime Fitness, who agreed to sponsor both events.
The pair also say they were grateful for helpful advice and support from Sole Sisters and North Bristol Running Group.
Thanks are extended to the Willow Brook Centre (venue), Bradley Stoke Radio (music and snow), Mitre Printing (signs), Hobbs Bakery (cake), Joe’s Bakery (mince pies), Cool Cakes (cup cakes), Deans Fruit & Veg (bananas and oranges) and Paula Gregory (cakes).
Special thanks go to ‘Visits from Santa’ for helping judge the fancy dress, along with Phillip Lovell and Andy Ward, and to Tom Phipps from Parkinson’s UK’s Bristol Group for attending the event to talk about the disease and local research studies.
The grand total raised from both events came to £1,180, which Karen and Vicky say is a “fantastic result”. For more information, search for “Vicky & Karen’s Race to the Stones – Parkinson’s UK” (@VKRTTS2018) on Facebook.
Photos: 1 Warm-up for the Santa Run on 2nd December. 2 Start of the Santa Run on 2nd December.
This article originally appeared in the January 2018 issue of the Bradley Stoke Journal news magazine (on page 27). The magazine is delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to 9,500 homes in Bradley Stoke, Little Stoke and Stoke Lodge. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.
Note: The headline in the print version of this article incorrectly gave the amount raised as “over £1,800”. We apologise for this error.
