Claire Hemingway was planning to run the Manchester marathon on the 5th of April to raise funds for the Acholi Girls Fairer Future project. Read our original post about this. She is aiming to raise £750.00 for this project, an amount that would provide approximately 300 girls or two schools with sanitary ware.
Please note that Enthuse charges an administration fee on your donation.
If funds received exceed the requirements for a specific person or project the trustees shall re-designate any surplus at the end of the term or project.
Update: 15 April 2020 : Fundraising status
Claire has raised the fantastic amount of £1396 to date! That is nearly double her target! Can you help her reach double?
You can still support her by clicking on the button below.
Update: 14 April 2020: Claire did it!
In her own words:
“26.2 miles done!! Well thank God those hills are over – I did it! 🏃🏻♀️🏅
Special shout outs go to:
⭐️My neighbours who are the most amazing people, giving me a boost at 16miles and clapping me to the finish!!
⭐️My crazy pals who’ve also ran/ cycled/ HIITed this morning in support and are continuously putting up with my antics!
⭐️My parents who used their daily exercise to cycle round with water / snacks (v v grateful)!! More than that, they continually support me in all the bonkers activities I suggest (like this)!
⭐️Everyone who has donated, THANK YOU – it’s crazy to think we’ve smashed the target and will provide sanitary ware for over 500 young women!!
⭐️And finally to God – I may have been victorious in finishing this marathon but He has the ultimate victory this Easter Sunday 🐣 He has risen today so we can have life to the full!
#marathondone #eastersunday #padsproject
Ps. For those worried about COVID social distancing, I saw very few people on this long run (see photos of very lonely lanes)!! Mum and Dad used their once daily exercise to come and support 🙂 I also changed tops (lol) after 17miles as was too hot!
Update: 7 April 2020 : Fundraising status
Claire has already raised more than the targeted amount! Whoohoo! Well done, Claire!1! This is a great motivator!
Please continue to support her! The funds will still be allocated to the Acholi Girls Fairer Future project, helping even more girls to stay in school longer!
Update 2 April 2020 : Another change of plan
Due to the current status of COVID-19 and being in lockdown, I’ve had to change plans once again. As a student in Cambridge we were advised to head home by the university, so I’m currently in the sunny Midlands only leaving the house for my daily exercise… (still getting in some training runs but its a LOT hillier than being in Cambridge)! My plans of running the marathon around Cambridge (on 19th April) with different friends will not be possible, due to the lockdown restrictions (seems unlikely to change over the next few weeks).
I will now be running the 26.2 miles on Easter Sunday (12th April), around my local area. Easter Sunday is already a day to celebrate (the incredible news of Jesus’s resurrection), so it will be a celebratory, cheery and hopefully sunny day to also run a marathon!! I have plotted a route around my area, and will share my Garmin result to let you know that I have completed a whole marathon.. with some pictures / social media updates along the way.
My dad is going to come and cycle for part of it with me so I don’t get too lonely throughout the course and to provide energy snacks/ water!!
Update 17 March 2020 : Change of plans
The Manchester Marathon has been postponed because of the coronavirus.
Claire is uncertain that she will be able to run the marathon later in the year, likely to be October. She feels that she still owes those generous people who have sponsored her to run the marathon, so she has come up with a plan to run her own marathon!
“My plan is to run a marathon around Cambridge instead on Sunday 19th April 2020. I have plotted the route and my plan is to get pals to join me as I head round for different legs. I will be running (hopefully) around 8½-9 min per mile, so it’d be great if people could pace me round at that speed!”
Have a look at the route.
If you can help by running with Claire or bringing her snacks and fluids, please contact us.
Update 10 March 2020
We asked Claire how she it getting along with her preparations for the big day…
“Here we are, less than a month to go until the big day! Training has been progressing – slow and steady, due to a mixture of an intense clinical placement in Peterborough and playing netball for the university at the same time (poor legs). However, the busy period has settled down somewhat and I’m digging back in on the regular 3 runs a week, getting the miles in my legs! A HUGE shoutout to my housemate Steph who has been the biggest encourager on our long Sunday runs, making training much more bearable.
The major highlight of this week was running the Cambridge Half on Sunday 8th March (also International Women’s Day!! How apt!). It was a hugely enjoyable day, and a big boost for the 26.2 miles – if the atmosphere and legs can carry me round a half marathon, hopefully a marathon will be possible! Running on International Women’s Day reminded me again of the young women I am running the marathon in aid of – girls who have potential to achieve so much, and are often held back by their biology (menstruating for a week each month, and missing school for that period). Hopefully raising these funds for the project will enable many more incredible, talented young women to have full education!”
