The London Marathon is one of the most arduous tasks that one can undertake, a challenge that will be made all the more difficult for Rob Crossley, Matt Dickson and Adam Burrows by the addition of pink tutus to their running gear!

The three are running for the charity Momentum, a local charity which specialises in providing support for the families of those whose children are either diagnosed with a terminal illness or those families who have suffered the untimely death of one of their children. They have already raised £10,000 and the link to their Just Giving page is below. This run was inspired by the death of Rosie Mitchell, a girl who tragically died of cardiac arrhythmia whilst rowing on the Thames some months ago. A student of the local Grey Court School, she was a fun, bright, upcoming model who died suddenly on the river whilst training.

In the terrible aftermath of her passing Momentum provided invaluable support to the Mitchell family. The addition of the tutus is not a simple act of vanity to make them stand out but rather a poignant link to Rosie, as at a party the night before she died she went dressed as Barbie. The use of the tutus was a suggestion of the family to help people remember Rosie and as a touching link to her. As a family friend of the Mitchells, this is a very personal run for Rob which has made the fundraising easier. Rob feels reluctant to be sponsored to run for one of the big charities as he feels he it would be using the charity to race, whilst now the charity has come before the race. He has mixed emotions about running the race as the awful event has allowed him to run the London Marathon, something he has tried unsuccessfully to do before, but he is looking forward to the challenge.

Rob was already a runner and had run some half marathons but has never undertaken the challenge of a full marathon. He began training at Christmas time and built up the training steadily running the Richmond Park half marathon and the Hampton Court half marathon. This helped him build up his training, and promising times in these runs has provided him with confidence heading into the marathon. Training has been juggled around work and family commitments, thus leading to many early morning or late night runs from or to work. Unlike many runners Rob is not planning to listen to music in order to take in the electric atmosphere that surrounds the race and to chat to the many runners that he will run alongside.

Rob’s build-up to the marathon has not been totally smooth; 5 weeks ago he had a tightening in his upper calf muscle on a long run that reduced him to a standstill. Luckily he was only at Richmond Bridge so his wife, Sarah, could come and pick him up. Since then he has had physio treatment and is now stretching frequently to prevent it happening again. When asked if it flared up since then, he said that luckily it hadn’t and he was confident that it wouldn’t affect his race.

For Matt and Adam this is not their first marathon but that does not take away from the challenge of it. All three are looking forward to the race tomorrow and are anticipating good running conditions, with the weather set to be almost perfect for running. Best of luck not just to those three but to all those who are running the marathon tomorrow.

Link to the just giving page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/RunforRosieM