Local frontline charity worker Faye Hindmarsh had previously raised £1000 during her first half marathon and now has bigger plans at Edinburgh’s Marathon in the new year.
In September, Faye ran The Great North Run for Teenage Cancer Trust.
Faye said: ‘The Great North Run had been on my bucket list a while, I saw my dad run it when I was younger so finally decided to take on the challenge, I can’t believe I finally did it. It was a great experience’
She added: I’ve been running for around six months now, so I found the run pretty hard and the weather didn’t help! However, it was a great atmosphere which helped me through and it was great to see others running for important causes. I finished in a time of 2:11:55 in 22,417th position.’
Although being active through other sports such as swimming, Faye explains how she trained for the half marathon with only 6 months of training behind her.
‘I started out with no knowledge of how you train for a half marathon, so I basically started running, doing a couple runs a week usually like a 5k then built my distance on the second run.’
She added: ‘However, about 12 weeks before the run I downloaded an app called Runna, it gives you a training programme and tells you which types of runs to do each week. That was great, that made me motivated and excited to run.’
Faye ran for Teenage Cancer Trust, who provide specialised care and support for young people with cancer, she explains how this was personal to her as she works for the charity herself.
‘From working at Teenage Cancer Trust for nearly two years, I see firsthand the level of support that young people require when going through this difficult time in their life. The charity is not government funded, so fundraisers like this are vital to make sure no young person faces cancer alone.’
She added: ‘I love my job and I value so much the support Teenage Cancer Trust delivers to not only our young people in Alder Hey, but to young people across the country..’
‘I work alongside our nursing teams and allied health professionals to help young people deal with the impact of cancer.’
‘In my role, I support the young people’s social and emotional needs at diagnosis, during treatment and continue this support for two years post-treatment. This can look different depending on each young person and what sort of support they might feel that they need.’
‘So, to raise money for charity felt fantastic, however to raise money for the charity I work for and for the young people I support was just amazing!
Faye went beyond her target by raising over £1000 for her run: ‘I wanted to contribute to the vital fundraising that Teenage Cancer Trust needs, to support young people with cancer and fund specialised nurses and youth support roles like myself.’
She added: ‘I managed to raise more than my target of £1,000 and I can’t thank people enough for their generosity! I’m hoping next year some of my friends and family will get involved too so we can run together and raise more vital funds.’
Faye plans to run in the Edinburugh marathon in may 2025.
She said: ‘I got really brave (or really foolish) and booked a place in the Edinburgh Marathon for May 2025. I’m trying not to think too much about that yet as it seems way outside of my capabilities however, I’ll be starting my training after Christmas.’
The money Faye raises will help equip the Teenage Cancer Trust unit with appliances and furniture to make it feel more like a home than a hospital including comfy sofas, kitchen equipment, TVs, pool tables, and space for young people to chat and socialise.
