Andy Uttridge, co-founder of Rooprai Spinal Trust London 10,000 The London 10,000 takes place every May and is a road running event that starts in St James’s Park and finishes within the shadows of Buckingham Palace. Organised by the same team as the London Marathon, it’s one of the biggest supported 10k’s in the country, boasting well over 12,000 participants. Rooprai and Evergood The Rooprai Spinal Trust have been involved with this race for a few years now and it’s a fantastic opportunity to spread the word about our work and raise funds. Evergood Associates have been great supporters of our work in recent times, donating money and organising fundraising events. There was also a promise to always be there at the end of the phone, willing to help us anyway they could for our next adventure. So, we put the call out for the 2018 London 10,000 and laid down the gauntlet for Evergood to come and join us. As ever, the Evergood team stepped up to the plate and accepted our challenge. Friendly Rivalry As a spinal injuries charity, in addition to our own work, we enjoy supporting the work of other charities around the world. Spinal Research are a U.K charity trying to find the answers to reversing paralysis. At the London 10,000, we always have a friendly competition between our two teams of runners to see who will have the quickest average team time. In 2017, they pipped us by a couple of minutes, so in 2018 we were out to even the score – not that we’re at all competitive. Race Day The Evergood Team had kindly set up a joint fundraising page to gather sponsors for their challenge and now it was time to join up with our other runners, meet the Spinal Research runners and get the job done. We all met in Green Park, shaking hands and introducing ourselves, some sipping coffee, some preferring water but all coming together for Team RST. After sizing up the Spinal Research team, and offering our genuine best wishes to our friendly rivals, we made our way to the start line. After ourselves and the Spinal Research team made it safely round, there were lots of smiles and high fives at the end. This year was our year, as we were the quickest team, levelling the score at 1-1 and making our next race even more important. But that was all soon forgotten about after ourselves and the Spinal Research team compared aches and pains in the comfort of the pub after the race. A big thanks to everyone who ran for us. We really appreciate you giving up your time and hope to see you next year. Andy and team. #TeamRST Ian Ruffles, Recruitment Consultant for the Primary Care team at Evergood Associates: After running the London Marathon in 2017 and enjoying the experience of running around the capital, I jumped at the chance to run again, especially for a local charity that doubles as Evergood’s nominated charity. It was also a good excuse to get back into running after only completing a couple of runs since the marathon. However, after only taking part in a solitary training run, not to mention falling ill a few weeks before the event, it’s fair to say I started the race somewhat unprepared! But I wasn’t going to let the charity down and I just hoped my marathon stamina would still be there to get me through. On the day, the event was very well organised and all those familiar feelings from the London Marathon soon came flooding back. I went off fairly quickly, taking in some of the capital’s famous landmarks, but the lack of training and my ill health soon saw me struggling – especially as was a hot day. I actually found it just as hard as the marathon, but knowing the cause I was running for made me keep pushing on, especially when I saw the runners from the Spinal Trust. Let’s say I was glad to see the finish line at Buckingham Palace and complete the course, even if I was a little disappointed by my time. But I’ll definitely be signing up for next year, where I hope to produce a much better time and help raise some more funds for a fantastic cause.
Tuesday Aug 14, 2018
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