London Marathon 2012

Carina Gallacher
Sponsor Carina Gallacher

Thank you for sponsoring me. My enthusiasm is wearing thin and my joints are wearing out so I need all the encouragment I can get. It is, very slowly, dawning on me that it is a very long way!
I am running for a great charity that preserves play areas, sports fields and green spaces that may otherwise be developed. This enables children to enjoy play and sport locally.

“I received an email from Fields in Trust asking if anyone wanted to run the marathon on behalf of their charity. Although the furthest I had run had been the 5km Race for Life, I decided to put my name forward.

 “Then I received a call from Buckingham Palace to say I had been chosen as one of only four people to run for the charity. I am also one of 150 people running for Prince William’s and Prince Harry’s charities.

 “Needless to say, I’ve now started on a full-scale training programme to get myself fit to run the full marathon by 22 April. I’ve managed to run 18 miles in one session so far so I’ve still got a little way to go but I’m hopeful I’ll be ready for the big day.

 ”I’m delighted to be raising funds for Fields in Trust as it works to protect open spaces, which is an important aspect of my job at the Council.”

Simon Dell
Sponsor Simon

I’m a 39 year designer/part time small holder and as such have access to the wide open countryside looking after my pigs,sheep,goats & chickens. This is a fantastic environment to bring up my 6 year son, Montigue, who thrives on access to the open space that my wife Jemma and I can provide. But not everyone grows up in, or has access to, a place to play in. The Fields in Trust is unique in its goal to provide and safeguard the places to relax, play and be active in for all, around the country. Something I am very happy to promote and ensure a healthy wellbeing for all. Running the London Marathon is a goal I’ve had since the inaugural event in 1981. When as schoolboy I watched the event on TV and the next day at school ran around the school playing field with my friends. My motivation to complete a life goal and raise the profile of worthy cause that truly belief will surely get me to the end

Lauren Willingdon
Sponsor Lauren

I work in public relations for Broadgate Mainland, which provides pro bono PR for Fields In Trust. I’m 25 years old and originally from Manchester. It’s my first Marathon and she is helping to raise money by holding tea parties, bake sales and an auction of promises. When I’m not running, my day is filled with baking lots of cupcakes at the moment - bake sales have been a central part of my fundraising, because, let's face it, everyone loves cake! I’m running because it’s a great challenge for an even greater cause. I think it's really important to safeguard our green spaces so they can be appreciated by future generations. So please do dig deep and sponsor me!

I am Nicola and a mother of 3, Max, Lulu and Marina. I enjoy short runs with our dog, Jake. Being an English Pointer, he has loved it and has bounded along as I struggle throughout our training runs and he could effortlessly bound the 26miles whereas it is definitely overstretching my limits. I have always wanted to run the London marathon and finally I have the opportunity to do it in my fiftieth year. I am running for a fantastic charity F.I.T so I hope that I can achieve it.

Mark Soole - Royal Society
For details about sponsoring Mark please email kathryn.cook@fieldsintrust.org

I’m Head of ICT Services at the Royal Society in my day job, where I’ve been for eight years. I’m also a trustee of Community Network, a charity using teleconferencing to combat loneliness, and a school governor. I have 2 young children with my partner, and all three will cheer me along on the day. My main sporting interests are around cycling and some sailing. This is my first long run of any type. I ran 19 miles on Sunday and it hurt! I’m running to raise money for Centrepoint as well as FiT (prior commitment, targeting different people for fundraising) so will be swapping over t-shirts during the run. FiT rang a particular bell for me because I use green spaces personally in south east London where I live, and am involved in promoting their use locally with cycling groups, who use them as meeting points and to make routes through cities.

My own children use them constantly and they are a huge benefit in the urban environment we live in.