Claire Angus, Sarah Gleadell, Andrea Mitchell, Louise Rushworth and Joanna Shilton of Cambridge Network will be joined by team sponsor Joy Bemrose, to run the 1.7 mile charity relay race which starts at Queen’s Green, in the town centre, and incorporates a scenic route through the streets of the city, Trinity College, Clare College and Kings College.
Jo, Claire, Louise, Joy, Andrea and Sarah (pictured left to right) took part in a time trial from the Hauser Forum around the West Cambridge site on Monday 7 September, to determine in which order the team will run in on the day. Following on from the previous news piece about the team, here’s a brief introduction to the final three members of the team:
Joy (an HR specialist who provides flexible, practical HR support to help organisations create a "Winning Workplace") started running in her 40s - proving it’s never too late to start anything! She’s done several half marathons and will be training for the Great Eastern after her summer holiday. Finishing is her goal - not speed - although Joy promises she will “go for it” over the 1.7 miles! Joy runs with others in her village, and their motto is to be able to talk along the way (hence her claim of preference for a slower pace): socialising whilst keeping fit! When she runs on her own Joy does enjoy listening to running music too.
Andrea (who’s responsible for the logistical management of Cambridge Network events plus the design and management of the Breakfast Networking workshops) describes herself as sporty, but has never liked running. She prefers anything to running, but decided to step up and support the team for charity. Having just returned from a sailing trip (which doesn’t involve much leg work) Andrea is also a keen skier, but as she is quick to point out, even though this means she is used to covering long distances on her legs it is usually with the help of gravity!
Sarah (who manages the open Learning Collaboration courses calendar for Cambridge Network, among many other things) is Team Captain and has been coordinating the team’s running plans with the help of weekly hints and tips. Sarah took part in her first ever competitive run this June - a 5K fun run for Great Ormond Street, with her daughter Hannah. A keen Zumba dancer, Sarah seems to have caught the running bug though as she plans to join a local running club any day now and is also in training for the 10K Bourn to Run at the end of September!
We hope as many Cambridge Network members as possible will be joining the rest of the supporters to cheer on all of this year’s runners on Sunday 20 September 2015.
Chariots of Fire is organised and managed by Hewitsons Charitable Trust and the other main event sponsor this year is Cambridge News. Sponsorship monies for 2015 are being raised for the official recipient charity EACH, who support families and care for children and young people with life-threatening conditions across Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk.
Since the event started in 1992, Chariots of Fire has raised over £1 million for local and regional charities, with an estimated 6,245 teams having taken part in the race, with approximately 37,470 individual runners pitting themselves against each other.