Congratulations and a huge “thank you” to the 108 runners who ran the 2014 Virgin Money London Marathon for CRY on Sunday 13th April. As always, we are very proud of you all and very grateful to you for your fantastic efforts to raise awareness and funds for CRY.
Next year’s race date is Sunday 26th April. The public ballot is now closed but to enquire about a CRY charity place, please email [email protected].
The team of 108 CRY runners comprised of 43 who ran with their own ballot places and 65 with places acquired through CRY – including media and celebrity places. Among our runners was CRY Patron and Chief Global Correspondent for NBC News, Bill Neely, who took part in the London Marathon in aid of CRY for the 5th consecutive year – despite being unable to do any training as he had been abroad almost continuously for the preceding three months with his new job. His daughter, Sarah, also took part for CRY for the first time – she was Bill’s inspiration to take part for the first time in 2010.
We were also delighted to have CRY Research Fellow, Dr Aneil Malhotra, taking part this year; and he was one of many CRY runners who came to the CRY post-race reception / massage area at the Hilton Hotel, Green Park.
The weather was lovely once again this year, with plenty of sunshine and no rain – perfect for spectators but probably a little too warm for the runners! It was an incredible atmosphere as always and an event of which we are proud to be a part.
At 8.30am, Bev Katigbak (CRY myheart Co-ordinator) and CRY volunteer, Nigel Bennett, headed to the start to meet the CRY runners at the Red and Blue starts and wish them all good luck. We also used this opportunity to start our social media coverage on the day and sent out regular tweets. Thank you to everyone who came to meet Bev and Nigel.
Meanwhile, as usual, the Blake Suite at the Hilton Hotel, Green Park was being prepared with refreshments and decorated with CRY banners, flags, balloons, bunting and displays. The room was set up by CRY staff Ben Robinson, Cara MacMillan, Lesley Dallow, Nicola Taylor and Rebecca Zouvani; with assistance from CRY volunteers Barbara and Jim Holland, Phil Eastty, Sandy Credland and Aoife Harrington – who were a great help and made the suite look very welcoming in preparation for our runners’ return.
This year, the Hilton Green Park kindly donated an additional two suites – the Byron and the Darwin – and CRY volunteer Ian Wynn set these rooms up with massage beds so that CRY runners could have their post-race massage in a quiet, relaxing environment, away from the bustle of the main suite. We are extremely grateful to the Hilton Hotel for the use of these additional rooms.
Volunteers and supporters Krisztina Cserhalmi, Agota Benedek, Jenni Drury, Victoria Drury, Marie Marshall, Steve Jackson and Terry and Don Granner – as well as our runners’ friends and families – kindly cheered for all of our runners at miles 18 and 23 and gave them the extra boost they needed to keep going. We later found out that CRY Patron Andy Scott had also gone along to cheer for the CRY runners as well.
Katy, Chris, Oliver and Lucy Turberville; along with Bob, Carol, Jonathan, Jemma, Matthew and Ben Finch; Lauren and Sue Archer; and Marcus Whitehead – also CRY volunteers – waited in Waterloo Place near the finish area to welcome the CRY runners and offer them a seat, drink and snack whilst they waited for the CRY shuttle service to take them back to the Hilton Hotel.
The shuttle vehicles were driven by Ben Robinson (CRY Community Fundraiser) and volunteer Gerry Wright, who not only gave up his Sunday to help CRY but also used his own, pristine, MPV! They were assisted by CRY Representative Martin Appleby and Yassi Banietemad (CRY Fundraising Team) who escorted our tired runners from the finish area and whisked them back to the hotel in the minibus shuttles, where many CRY staff, volunteers and supporters were waiting to thank and congratulate them. Volunteers Liz and Edward Roscoe greeted each of our runners outside the hotel and welcomed them to our reception. Lesley Dallow (CRY Fundraising Assistant) took photos of them as they arrived and the Hilton Hotel kindly provided hand towels for our runners as they entered the building – another nice touch.
The first CRY runner to cross the finish line was Sacha Reeves, who finished in an incredible 2 hours 50 minutes and 30 seconds! Rob Drag, who finished in an amazing 3 hours 2 minutes and 53 seconds was the first CRY runner back to the hotel, followed by Philly Campbell, who finished in a fantastic 3 hours 36 minutes and 1 second.
Gradually more and more runners came back to the hotel, each receiving a well deserved round of applause from staff and a goody bag handed to them by Aoife Harrington, before they were photographed, interviewed and given a well-earned leg massage. The main reception room was, after a while, full of exhausted, emotional and elated runners and proud friends and family members sharing the highs and lows of the day. They were able to meet and chat to Alison Cox, CRY Founder and CEO, who was available for most of the afternoon and enjoyed meeting everyone and thanking them for their extraordinary efforts.
After being checked-in by volunteers Barbara and Jim Holland (who kept things running smoothly) each runner was offered a seat and a drink by volunteer Anna Mills. They were then interviewed by Lily Burke (CRY Bereavement Support Programme Manager) and former CRY staff member, now a volunteer, Becci Upson. After this, runners were taken to the massage suites where the therapists helped to relieve their aching muscles.
The massage areas were supervised by volunteers Catherine Patterson, Krisztina Cserhalmi and Terry and Don Granner, who ensured that the runners were not interrupted by visitors whilst they were having their massage.
A huge “thank you” to our volunteer massage therapists, Alex Hough, Alice Ogebula, Carole Young, Carrie-Anne Smith, Daniel Doyle, David Piddington, Edel Casey, Ellie Denton, Emily Flowerday, Francine Wison, Ian Wynn, Jake Hickson, Jaysen Veeren, John Daines, Johnathon Woods, Lianne Stemp, Laura Jane Cowdell, Louise McLoughlin, Lucie Millar, Luke Ayling, Mike Tointon, Pippa Rollitt, Rachel Grant, Sabena ‘Beanie’ Williams, Sarah Game and Yoshiko Beer, whose skills were greatly needed and much appreciated by all the CRY runners who came back to the hotel and had been looking forward to a much needed massage! The team from Richmond Physiotherapy once again offered their help in memory of one of their colleagues, Ralph Murwill; and the team from Handz-on-Training offered their help in support of CRY runner Leah Howard, who ran in memory of Craig Salmon.
After runners had finished their therapeutic and soothing massage, volunteers Phil Eastty, Sandy Credland, Catherine Patterson and Krisztina Cserhalmi showed them to hotel bedrooms which had been reserved for showers. Everyone seemed to feel much better after a hot shower and change of clothes!
Thank you so much to the 56 runners and their supporters who came back to the hotel to meet us, despite feeling emotionally and physically exhausted; and thank you as well to all of our volunteers.
As always, it was a challenging day for everyone, and especially difficult for those who were running in memory of somebody. It was great to meet so many of our runners’ friends, family members and supporters too, some for the first time.
We are grateful to all who have sent in photographs from the day. If you haven’t already done so, please do send any photos you have to [email protected] – we will include as many as possible on CRY’s Flickr account.
Volunteers Sue and Pete Robinson, Mark Wibberley, Nigel Bennett, Agota Benedek and CRY staff Bev Katigbak, Yassi Banietemed and Lesley Dallow, did a wonderful job of taking photos of CRY runners on the course, at the Grandstand and back at the hotel – and managed to get a smile out of everyone! Bev tweeted photos and information about CRY runners throughout the day.
Thank you also to the Hilton Hotel, Green Park, for once again hosting our post-event facilities; providing dedicated staff to assist with any queries; offering CRY runners and supporters discount vouchers for food and drink at the bar; and providing many extra facilities for CRY free of charge this year – including the hand towels at the reception area and, most generous of all, the two suites which we used for the massage facilities. This was much appreciated.
Once again, we would like to thank each and every runner for their huge efforts in completing the marathon and fundraising for CRY. Your time, effort and valued support are truly appreciated. Well done!
The CRY Team
Read about CRY runner Fergal Doyle’s experience of the London Marathon here. Used with permission from Marathon News / London Marathon Ltd.
These are just a few photos from the day, to see ALL our photos please visit our London Marathon 2014 Flickr gallery
This is a selection of photos from the day. If you would like to view all of the photos, they are available on our London Marathon 2014 Flickr gallery
CRY runners in the 2014 London Marathon were:
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