The Sands Centre staff take on marathon challenge!

This April, 2 of our members of staff, Lynn & Leonie, are lacing up their running shoes to take on Manchester Marathon. After previously helping each year at The Cumbrian Run, which BETTER are heavily involved in, they decided it was time to set themselves a challenge! 

After seeing TV coverage of both the London & Manchester marathons last year Lynn & Leonie felt inspired to get involved and try raise what they can for 2 well known charities that mean a lot to them both.  

This will be the 1st marathon for them both. Lynn said, “this will be my 1st and last marathon!” Leonie said, “never say never!” 

The pair are raising money for Cancer Research & The Alzheimer's Society and currently have a ‘guess our finish time’ sweepstake active in the centre. At only £5 a guess, there’s £100 up for grabs for the lucky person who can guess the closest to their actual finish time. Both also have sponsor forms & ‘GoFundMe’ pages on their social media, for anyone who would like to donate. 

Since last year Lynn & Leonie have been running together on a Friday after work to try build up the running miles. They have also been squeezing runs in where they can, juggling work & homelife to ensure they can dedicate time for their training.

  
Leonie said, “It has involved a lot of 5am alarms to squeeze runs in before work, most of the time I’d be setting off for my run & finishing when it's still dark”  
Lynn said, “We are more than ready for the clocks to change in March! Looking forward to having more light in a morning, meaning we can finally ditch the headtorches!” 

So far, in preparation for their marathon event in April, the pair have completed the North Lakes Half-Marathon which took place early February down in the beautiful Lorton valley, just outside of Cockermouth.

 
Leonie said, “although it was a tad chilly, it turned out to be a lovely sunny day and I’m glad I wore my sunny’s!”  
Lynn said, “Leonie told me the route was a flat one, I think her English flat is different to my Scottish flat!” 

The pair have also signed up for the Carlisle Half in March. Lynn said, “another good test of the legs, we might even do another few miles once we cross that finish line!” 

Not long to go now, keep calm & carry on running!