Susan’s first marathon is a fundraising success!
On Sunday 20th March 2022, our fabulous colleague Susan Gregory took to the streets of Limassol, Cyprus to run her first-ever marathon. The 26-mile challenge was something that started off as a challenge between friends but ended up becoming a personal mission for Susan, and one to raise much-needed funds for the people of Ukraine affected by the Russian conflict.
We caught up with Susan who shared her story:
“In Summer 2019, a good friend persuaded me that everyone has a marathon in them and that she had heard about a fun marathon on a flat course in Cyprus, she felt that would be an amazing experience. Four of us entered the marathon and spent the winter training; we even completed 20-mile runs, but then, two weeks before the big event, it was canceled due to the pandemic. The marathon was eventually rescheduled for March 2022, and I felt it was unfinished business and I had to do it!
There were long winter training runs through wind and rain in early 2022, and then we headed off to Cyprus. By then, my friends had downgraded to the half marathon and 10km runs due to injuries and lack of training, but I had completed the training and felt I could do it. It was a long, lonely run and I had to dig deep for the last four miles when every muscle in my body hurt but, the feeling of finishing was amazing!
I felt it was unfinished business and I had to do it!
A week before I went to Limassol, I decided to do some fundraising for Ukraine and (at the time of writing) have raised over £2200 for Disaster Emergency Committee; an overwhelming amount and it certainly helped me finish the race. I completed it in 4 hours 41 minutes.”
Everyone here at The Retrofit Academy is immensely proud of what Susan has achieved.
If you would like to show your support and donate to this worthy cause, please follow the link to Susan’s Just Giving page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Susan-Gregory4
