Issue 142

Students Go The Distance For Charity

08th May 2006

Energetic Swansea University students are donning their running shoes to raise money for charity.

James Hay recently ran a total of 52.4 miles , completing both the Paris marathon and the London marathon in aid of Global Action Nepal (GAN) - raising just over £1,500 for the charity.

"Paris was a really fun weekend away and for the most part I actually enjoyed the marathon as well", said James. "The last 5-6 miles was horrible though - my legs kept cramping up and my knees were in agony. I was reduced to kind of hobble-cum-shuffle for the last few miles." James managed to complete his first marathon in 3hrs 36mins.

The London Marathon was on 23 April - only two weeks after the Paris marathon, but James still found the running easier second time round. "I took London a little slower," he said. "My knees were still hurting a lot but I drank a lot more liquid and didn't cramp up so badly."

Despite the pain he endured, James enjoyed the experience and plans to do more running in the future. "The atmosphere at both was amazing; absolutely thousands of people running and even more cheering along the sides. I fancy running another one sometime next year, probably somewhere in Europe. Not for a while though - I'm taking it easy for a bit now."

The money donated to Global Action Nepal will help towards educational and social improvement throughout Nepal.

To find out more about James' chosen charity, Global Action Nepal, visit http://www.gannepal.org/index.html.

Meanwhile, Swansea University's Dance Society have been training for the 5km Race For Life through Singleton Park on 21 May - to raise money for Cancer Research UK.

The nine girls have been training two times a week as a group, as well as individually. But it hasn't been easy: "None of us were runners before, so it has been a bit of an uphill struggle!" said President of the Dance Society, Beth Antonia Hodge.

The society held a salsa night in Divas last week, managing to raise just over £300 for their cause. But the girls intend to continue fundraising until the race. "We will be collecting from outside Fulton House a couple of weeks before the race - so look out for us," said Beth. "This is a charity that we all feel strongly about in the society, and it is important to us that we raise awareness for the cause."

The girls running with Beth are Rachel Stempien, Jo Nicholl, Aurora Triveni, Holy Picklen, Jackie Jobes, Annabel West, Sigrid Swanzey and Katie Kirkbright.

Ruth Stokes