Charity race in memory of Newport schoolboy Lewis Smith

Monday 28th March 2011, 7:14PM BST.

Newport Town Crier Peter Taunton starts the 5k and 10k charity races in aid of the Lewis Smith Foundation at Harper Adams University College near Newport.

Friends and family of a Shropshire teenager who died from a rare heart condition joined runners to take part in a giant charity race at Harper Adams University College in his memory.

Huge crowds took part in the inaugural Five10Run in Newport, which honoured 15-year-old Lewis Smith, who died after collapsing during a PE lesson at Burton Borough School in Newport.

Lewis’s mother Joanne joined the runners with many participants wearing T-shirts bearing photographs of army cadet Lewis.

Yesterday’s event, which featured 10k and a 5k runs, had the full backing and support of Lewis’s family, who live at Howle near Newport.

The runs were organised and marshalled by staff and student volunteers from the agricultural colleges.

Some of the cash raised will be donated to help doctors learn how to best tackle the rare undetected medical condition, called myocardial ischaemia, that Telford & Wrekin coroner, Mr John Ellery, has ruled led to Lewis’s death on November 16 last year.

Proceeds will also go to the Lewis Smith Memorial Fund, Severn Hospice and Farms for City Children.

There was a 10km race at 11am and a 5km race, which started at 11.15am

It was a busy day at the college, which was also hosting its third farmers’ market.

There were 55 stalls selling countryside produce, with many runners enjoying the products on offer after crossing the finish line.

A children’s Easter egg hunt and tractor rides around the college grounds kept visiting children entertained throughout the family-friendly day.

Harper Adams this year rebranded and took over the organisation of the running event, which was formerly known as the Edgeahead Run.

View more: Lewis Smith news, Newport news.