Archived News

Truro Half Marathon - Done!

20th October 2009

On 20th September TRAC employees Matthew Walker, Graham Donaldson and Aaron Dee participated in the Truro Half Marathon in support of Cornwall Air Ambulance.

Taking gift aid into account, over £1000 was raised, which equates to over an hour and a half worth of flying time for the air ambulance

The trio said that after agreeing to run the half marathon – reckoned to be one of the toughest as a result of steep uphill sections - the decision to raise money for Cornwall Air Ambulance followed naturally, after it came to the rescue of their colleague who was very badly injured in a car traffic accident after leaving work in April this year.

“None of us had done anything like this before but when Matt suggested it, both myself and Aaron were keen to take part. In terms of who we were going to raise money for, the fact that the Cornwall Air Ambulance played such an instrumental part in helping our colleague reach hospital so quickly after his crash, increasing his chances of survival, made it an obvious choice,” said Graham.

Having started preparing seriously about 11 weeks before the start of the half marathon, training for the three included going out running 2 to 3 times during the week and then putting in a longer run at the weekend.

“We had ran parts of the course in training so knew about the uphill sections, and the first few miles were fine, but those hills kick in at around 9 miles and really hit hard, but before we knew it there were the 11 mile and 12 mile markers and we were heading down into Truro and back through the streets, shouted on by the crowd, which was fantastic,” said Matt.

Dania Shaw of Cornwall Air Ambulance said the charity was delighted by the trio’s efforts.

“Keeping the Cornwall Air Ambulance operational relies heavily on the generosity and enthusiasm of people like Aaron, Matt and Graham and their colleagues and we are delighted that they have raised so much. It mustn’t be underestimated how vital this type fundraising is for the organisation.

“We are also delighted that we were able to play a part in helping their colleague who is, we understand, well on the road to recovery,” said Dania.

If you wish to make a donation you can still do so via our justgiving page - www.justgiving.co.uk/walker-donaldson-dee