Claire Angus, Sarah Gleadell, Andrea Mitchell, Louise Rushworth and Joanna Shilton of Cambridge Network will be joined by team sponsor Joy Bemrose of Winning Workplace, to retrace the scenic route made famous by the 1981 film Chariots of Fire, through the streets and colleges of Cambridge, when each of the team of six will run the 1.7 mile course in relay format.
Sarah has been in charge of encouraging and motivating the team with weekly training tips and running guidance all summer. Her last email to the team contained the following advice: “You will have good runs and bad runs. Accept it and don’t spend too much time analysing the how and why. Even a bad run is good for you.”
The team plans a time trial to decide the order of running, but here's a brief introduction to some of them * (pictured left to right)
Louise (who's responsible for the Learning Collaboration's peer learning groups, among other things) has medals for rowing but claims to be a very slow runner, as she doesn’t think she’s built for speed and takes at least 1.7 miles to warm up. The team has every faith in her abilities though, as she’s completed three 10K races and goes out running at least once or twice every week with a friend who motivates her – mainly by suggesting they run to the pub!
Claire (who's in charge of Cambridge Network's Recruitment Gateway) is a regular gym goer and enjoys spinning and kettlebell classes as well as going out for runs a couple of times a week. She ran a Hoopla 10K earlier this year at Wimpole Hall and has also completed a couple of Insane Terrains (yep, she’s taken part in two of those crazy, obstacle course mud runs!). Chariots of Fire will be a gentle warm up for the Bourn To Run 10K that both Claire and Sarah have signed up to take part in on 27 September.
Jo (Cambridge Network's Head of Development) did once run the Bath Half Marathon, but that was in 2011 and she has since avoided running long distances whenever possible. An avid British Military Fitness (BMF) member, Jo is confident that her current fitness regime of Pilates and BMF (which mainly involves sprinting for short distances in-between dropping for press-up, sit-ups, squat jumps and burpees), will enable her to complete the 1.7 miles in under 20 minutes…
Since the event started in 1992, Chariots of Fire has raised over £1 million for local and regional charities, with an estimated 6,245 teams having taken part in the race, with approximately 37,470 individual runners pitting themselves against each other.
Persistent rain didn’t dampen the spirits of teams who took part in the very first race back in 1992, but we’re hoping the sun shines for this year’s runners on Sunday 20 September 2015.
Chariots of Fire is organised and managed by Hewitsons Charitable Trust and the other main event sponsor this year is Cambridge News. Sponsorship monies for 2015 are being raised for the official recipient charity EACH, who support families and care for children and young people with life-threatening conditions across Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk.
Sponsor the Cambridge Network team here
Find out more about Chariots of Fire
* Watch this space - the rest of the team will be introduced early in September!
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