Telford road runners raise £1,800 with socially distanced relay
An all-day relay race has raised nearly £1,800 for Severn Hospice.
A total of 57 Wrekin Road Runners took part in the Telford event, which saw members run from their house to the home of a team-mate.
The first runner set off at 6am on Saturday, with the final leg completed about 7.30pm.
The club decided to stage the event after its annual charity Wrekin Relay Challenge was cancelled because of coronavirus. This year’s beneficiary was Severn Hospice, and members didn’t want to see it lose valuable funding.
The event was organised by Dan Thurston, who painstakingly worked out a route which took in everyone’s home where a socially distanced handover took place.
Fellow member Hamish Eccles followed the runners throughout the day, posting live updates to social media.
Dan said: “I'd like to say a massive thank you to all the club members who ran and everyone who donated. We've raised nearly £1,800 with gift aid which has smashed our £1,000 target.
“The day itself could not have gone better. The main aims of the relay were to raise money for Severn Hospice, and to give club members something like a race and to have fun.
"Everyone ran so well and we managed to finish almost exactly when predicted while having a lot of fun on the way.
“We covered approximately 85 miles in just under 14 hours. Hamish did a fantastic job of taking photos, making videos and live streaming on Facebook all day plus running his leg on the Parkrun route.
“I think it's fair to say it was a fantastic success in every way possible, thank you Wrekin Road Runners for being such a great club.”
Donations can still be made at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/wrekinrelay
