Runners at the London Mini Marathon
Last Sunday saw a record number of people complete the London Marathon and on the Saturday (26 April) the attention was turned to the children. An estimated 18,000 from in and around London took part in the London Mini Marathon, competing in either a 1 mile or 2.6km race, both of which gave children the opportunity to cross the famous finish line at The Mall.
Come race day, the weather certainly turned in our favour as we had a beautiful day for running. We had 19 children from the Prep School that took on the mile – the final mile of the London Marathon course. A special mention for Atlas in Year 6 who was unable to run on the day but still came up to support everyone. Enthusiasm was high and we all gathered in the warm-up pen at Horse Guards Parade to be led in a warm-up by Joe Wicks, which only fuelled their excitement. Before we knew it, we were off and underway. All the children did their very best and seeing their smiling faces along the route was such a lovely sight to see! Crossing the iconic finish line was a great experience for us all and who knows, perhaps some of them will do it again in the actual marathon in years to come…
Raising money and charity sits at the heart of what the London Marathon is about and as well as getting children active, the mini marathon is a great opportunity to raise funds for much needed charities as well and so some of our children decided to do exactly that and did a fantastic job! BB in Year 5 decided to raise money for a charity that meant a lot to her (The Woodgreen Pets Charity) and managed to collect an extraordinary £1,465! Several other children decided to raise money for The Make Way Foundation, a charity close to the whole Caterham Prep community. A group of Year 6 and Year 3 children, Benji, Ella, Dylan, James, Freddie, Atlas, Cecilia, Lea (Y3) and Lucy (Y3) managed to raise a remarkable £1,155. Ava in Year 5 hit the magic £1,000 in her outstanding effort raising money and sisters Josie and Bea raised an impressive £483. The sponsor of the Mini Marathon, TCS, also give schools £10 for every finisher and so we will also receive £190 which will be donated to the Make Way Foundation.
In total, our children raised an unbelievable £4,293 and with a lot of donations made through JustGiving, Gift Aid will be added and the final amounts the two charities will receive will be even higher.
The biggest of ‘Well Dones’ to all of them!
