Meet our Brighton Marathon runners

It’s only a few days to go until the Brighton Marathon 2013 and we have four heroic runners slogging it out on Sunday to raise money for our work. We’d like to say a huge thank you to them all, wish them luck and introduce them to our supporters!

Ben Ritchie

Ben is an Engineer from Lockheed Martin. He ran the Chichester Half Marathon in 2012 and decided to take on the challenge of the full 26.2 km at Brighton, his estimated finishing time is 04:00:01-04:15:00.

When asked why he has chosen to run for Children on the Edge Ben said “ It's a variety of reasons - first and foremost I think it's a very important cause and the work the charity does is brilliant, so it is a pleasure to be able to do a little bit to help. There's also a family connection, Emily Dadson who works at the charity is my cousin so we've known about the charity for a long time now. Finally on a personal level it's a small thank you. I've wanted to do a marathon for a very long time, but always thought it was beyond me. Last year the Chichester half marathon convinced me otherwise - I loved every minute of that and it gave me the conviction to try the full distance, so I decided to raise some money for the charity in the process!”

You can sponsor Ben at http://www.justgiving.com/Ben-at-Brighton

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Becky Ryall

Becky is in her fourth year as a medical student at Cardiff University, she’s a keen runner but although she’s done plenty of shorter races, this is her first full marathon.  Becky has recently spent a semester in China and managed to do some running there. Her estimated finishing time is  04:00:01-04:15:00.

Becky’s also been organising extra events in Cardiff to support her fundraising including a ‘Bop til you drop’ all day aerobics event and a ‘Take Me Out’ event which is well supported by Cardiff students and local businesses.

Becky says “I chose to run for Children on the Edge because as a student I used to feel that the tiny amount of money I can give to charity makes no difference, until I read one of the fact sheets from Children on the Edge. Just 50p can make such a difference, which even me and my friends can afford. So we're saving up our 50p’s and training like mad in the hope that in some small way we can make life better for some kids who have been unlucky where they were born.”

You can sponsor Becky at http://www.justgiving.com/Becky-Ryall

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Chloe Alder

Chloe is a Primary school teacher from London. She heard about Children on the Edge via the Brighton Marathon website and felt she would like to support the work we do so agreed to run in aid of our projects. Her photo shows her out for a run in Central Park, New York, whilst on holiday over there! Her estimated finishing time is 04:15:00 - 04:30:00.

Chloe says “The reason I chose to run for Children on the Edge is that being a primary school teacher and working with children everyday means I really wanted to support a charity that helps children. I want to support a charity that helps to give children a childhood, providing children with access to education, play, food and shelter. I think the work Children on the Edge do and the projects you are running are definitely worth running a marathon for!”

You can sponsor Chloe at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ChloeAlder

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Robert Tugwell

Rob is a Second Lieutenant in the British Army who responded to our request for willing volunteers. He clearly doesn’t think that having recently finished Sandhurst Army Officer Training  was enough physical exercise! His estimated finishing time is 04:00:01-04:15:00

Rob likes a challenge and on his Virgin Money Giving page he writes “Running the Brighton Marathon 2013; I hope to help a little with the efforts made by Children on the Edge to improve young, vulnerable lives overseas. Just £5 will make a difference to young communities in lots of countries around the world:  Thailand, Moldova, Burma, to name a few. Plus, that's one hundredth of a contribution to my suffering. That's got to be worth doing?”

Rob’s parents also raised nearly £500 by hosting a curry evening at their local village hall which was very well attended.

You can sponsor Rob at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RobTugwell

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Best of luck to Ben, Becky, Chloe and Rob and watch this space to see how they do on Sunday!