A teacher at Ormiston Ilkeston Enterprise Academy is aiming to raise £2,000 for charity by running the London Marathon.
Students are keen to support Lesley Lowe’s fundraising efforts ahead of the marathon on April 22, 2018.
This will be the first time that Drama teacher Mrs Lowe has run the London Marathon after entering the ballot three times before but not being able to secure a place.
She applied for a place in the marathon with the charity Health, Poverty, Action and now needs to raise £2,000.
Mrs Lowe said: “I’ve already raised over £500 which is great and I’ve got plans for events to help me raise the rest. Our Student Voice group is also discussing ways to support this charity through the run.
“I didn’t start running until seven years ago so I suppose that I’ve come to it fairly late. I’ve done events like the Nottingham Half Marathon and the Colour Run before but I’ve never run in a marathon.
“I’m running twice a week at the moment and following a marathon training plan. I’m also doing a bootcamp exercise class three times a week. I’ll increase the number of runs I’m doing the closer I get to the marathon and then it tapers off according to the training plan.
“I think that I’ll only ever run one marathon and I wanted it to be London as it’s so iconic, it’s my bucket list run, and as I’m doing it for charity that’s more power to my training elbow.
“My husband is actually sponsoring my training. He’s pledged 20p a mile so that’s motivational.”
Health, Poverty, Action works in partnership with poor and marginalised communities in 12 countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America to help them improve their health, prioritising communities that do not receive support.
With the help of students Mrs Lowe is planning a fundraising event in school on February 23rd. This will involve a non-uniform day, coffee morning and a staff versus students treadmill challenge.
Mrs Lowe said she thought the prospect of running the marathon was both exciting and daunting.
She said: “I would love to do the marathon in less than five hours and four-and-a-half hours would be phenomenal.”
Mrs Lowe is writing a blog about her training, to read it click on the following link:
https://lesleysmarathon.wordpress.com/
Anyone who would like to sponsor Mrs Lowe can click on this link:
https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?pageId=844355
