Run with the Sunflowers Charity Team

FLORA LONDON MARATHON 2005

Help the Hospices is the official Charity of the Flora London Marathon 2005. Help The Hospices hopes to gather together the biggest single charity and celebrity team of runners on the day – the Sunflower Runners Team - with the aim of raising over £1 million for hospice care. Help The Hospices supports over 220 local adults and children’s hospices in their vital work on the frontline of caring for people living with a terminal illness.

Weight Loss Resources would like to encourage members to join the Sunflower Runners Team to support Help The Hospices who are mainly small charities. Use the Runners Message Board in Members Forum to join in. We can report news of our progress, give advice and support and help each other in our goal to run the London Marathon 2005.

Every year around 32,000 people of all ages and from all walks of life, take up that ultimate challenge - the 26.2 mile journey that is the Flora London Marathon. From first-timers to professional runners, from wheelchair users to rhino costumes or diving suits, if you would like to be part of what is a truly amazing event, make sure you enter the official ballot for a place in time for the deadline – 22nd October 2004.

The Sunflower Runners Team will have the following support:

• A unique First Time Runners Club, offering expert guidance and support to put your mind (but not your feet) at rest if you are making your Marathon debut.
• Specialist training and nutrition advice on our website and via email
• Expert one-to-one email coaching from realrunner.com, tailored to your specific needs
• Post-race reception for much-needed refreshments, relaxation, expert massage and all-round congratulations
• Runners packs and fundraising tips, with all the information you need
• Online sponsorship pages to make raising money less of a marathon task
• Eye-catching quality running vest

For many people, especially those attempting their first Marathon, hospice care can be both an inspiring and very motivating cause to raise funds for:

“The sense of achievement when I crossed the line was immense. It was such a buzz to know that I had completed it when it had looked so likely that I wouldn't be able to. Knowing that I had completed something that would make a difference to others lives is something I will never forget. Although I couldn't walk, run or even worse kick a football for the next month and a half, I would not change a thing. It was a life defining moment for me.”

 

Ian Morrison, running for Halton Haven Hospice in memory of his mum.

“Any one of us might one day need hospice care, ourselves or for a loved one, and many of us have seen at first hand, how hospices care for those living with a life-threatening illness”, says Sam Rider, Help the Hospices’ Marathon Project Manager and a keen runner herself. “Local hospices are mostly small charities and collectively need to raise over £300million a year. I’d ask anyone who is thinking of running next year to consider running for hospice care.”

 

Anyone interested in joining the Sunflower Hospice Running Team should call 0845 0862626, email hospicerunners@hth.org.uk or visit www.hospicerunners.org.uk for more information. Official application forms for entering the Race Ballot can be found in the August Issue of Marathon News magazine which is available in around 1,800 sports shops across the UK.

The Flora London Marathon takes place on Sunday April 17th 2005.

To find your nearest stockist for Marathon News magazine entry forms call: 0207 902 00189

Media enquiries:-

Help the Hospices - Katie Brewin tel: 0161 881 7753

Geoff Watson Tel: 0207 520 8213

 

Flora London Marathon:

Nicola Okey 0207 902 0182

Alice Frith 0207 902 0199

Notes:

• Updates on celebrity runners and further news will become available in the weeks and months to come. To be sure of receiving updates and all Help the Hospices Flora London Marathon press releases, send an email marked ‘Marathon News’ to hospicerunners@hth.org.uk
• Help the Hospices supports over 220 local adult and children’s hospices in their vital work on the front line of caring for people living with a terminal illness. In hospices, staff and volunteers provide care based on individual need, striving to offer dignity, peace, calm and freedom from pain. Support can be given at home, via day-care or in a hospice. Hospice services include complementary therapies, support for family carers, counselling and social activities such as music and art, as well as high quality specialist medical care.
• The money raised from the Flora London Marathon 2005 will benefit hospice care in a variety of ways including grants for local hospice staff carers and volunteers; specialist training and free information and advice services.