A MELKSHAM women who only took up running two years ago, successfully completed the London Marathon last weekend, beating her target time by four minutes.
Sandra Sharratt started running three years ago aged 48 when she trained for the Great North Run and has since joined the Avon Valley Runners. After watching the London Marathon for 30 years she’d always planned to sign up one day and finally the day came last year when she decided to try for a place running for Dorothy House. She heard she had got a place in October 2016 on the same day as the funeral of her good friend Jayne Watson.
Before the race Sandra said, “I am running the Marathon in aid of Dorothy House Hospice Care because of the great medical and emotional care Dorothy House gave to my two friends, Jayne Watson and Wendy Keene, before they lost their battles with cancer.
Sandra has organised several fundraising events over the last few months to reach the £2,000 target for her Golden Bond place in aid of the hospice. When Dorothy House launched their new fundraising initiative recently called Dorothy’s Tea Party, Sandra decided to make her next fundraiser a Dorothy’s Tea Party, with a cake sale and tombola held at Trowbridge County Hall.
Sandra works at County Hall in Trowbridge and invited her colleagues and staff from other departments in the building to come to the tea party and cake sale. Sandra has had great support with her Marathon mission from friends like Annette Hitch and Alexis Harris who have been instrumental in helping her organise fundraising events along with several running buddies who have helped with Sandra’s training.
Speaking after the race, Sandra said, “I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported me in my fundraising and training; I couldn’t have done it on my own. I have raised £2,550.
“The Marathon was an amazing event to be part of and I am so pleased to have done it. The crowd and marshals were brilliant. I don’t think I will ever do it again, but I have enjoyed the whole thing including fundraising and training.
“I wanted to run the Marathon in under six hours and managed that by coming in at five hours 56 minutes and 58 seconds. Thank you for the support of Dorothy House and for letting me have one of your Golden Bond places.”
Emily Knight, Events Fundraiser at Dorothy House Hospice Care said, “Well done to our Team Dotty runners for completing the London Marathon on Sunday, it’s a huge challenge and we’re very proud of them all.
“I was in Canary Wharf during the Marathon and cheered on our inspiring runners while enjoying the wonderful atmosphere and samba music. We’re extremely grateful for all the amazing fundraising the runners have achieved.”
To donate to Sandra’s fund visit www.virginmoneygiving.com and search ‘Sandra Sharratt’
To find out more about or if you’d like to host a party you can order a party planning pack at Dorothy House visit www.dorothyhouse.org.uk or call 01225 721 480.
Dorothy House Hospice Care provides free palliative and end of life care from early diagnosis onwards to patients, their families and carers across Bath and North East Somerset (BaNES), Wiltshire and Somerset.
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