Cardiff Half-Marathon – October 2010

Tracy Aze, a postgraduate research student at the School of Earth and Ocean Sciences at Cardiff University, ran the Cardiff Half Marathon on 17 October 2010, raising over £300 for the JWCT.

Tracy said about her preparation and the race itself: “The weather was amazing and it was a super fun day. I had been really poorly with a chest infection . . . and had not been able to train for four weeks before the race but on the day I was feeling much better and managed to do it in 2 hours 18 minutes. It wasn't as good as I'd hoped for earlier in my training but a good result considering.”

Tracy found out about the JWCT when looking through a list of organisations on the Palaeontological Association website that provides funding for geological fieldwork. She said “although I didn't know [Jeremy], he seemed just like the lads that I hang out with who are mostly young athletic geologists and I was deeply affected and so sad when I read about him on your website. I think that the charity you have set up in his memory is a truly wonderful tribute and the people and projects you fund are very deserving. It will be a pleasure to run for the JWCT as he seemed like an awesome guy.”

Jonny Allcock, with his wife Rachael, ran the Windsor Half-Marathon on 26 September 2010, raising valuable funds for the JWCT. The race was held within the grounds of Windsor Great Park, with spectacular views of Windsor Castle.

Jonny, who spent a year volunteering with Jeremy in Indonesia, said “in honour of Jez we have been training hard in the hope that we will arrive late, finish quickly with not a bead of sweat nor a blister to show for our efforts. In reality though it probably won't be such plain-sailing!”.

After the race he said “I got round in 15 minutes better than 2009 which was a relief because I sprained my knee seven days before the run and it pinged again four minutes into it, but I got round and basically all was fine, then I was made to stop at the finishing line and it seized up.”

Jonny raised an impressive £1,450 from friends and family to help the JWCT help more young people and make more great projects happen. He added “we really appreciate all the support everyone has given us . . . in these tough times. [It] will spur us on in an effort to achieve our own targets.”

Mike & Liberty’s wedding – August 2010

Guests at Mike Webb and Liberty Kelly’s wedding on 28 August 2010 were asked to donate to the JWCT instead of doing the traditional thing and providing presents. Mike and Liberty’s kind gesture raised over £900 for the JWCT.

Mike became a friend of Jeremy’s and his twin brother Matthew as they volunteered for the same organisation – the Project Trust – during their gap years, almost 17 years ago.

Mike and Liberty said on their special day "Jeremy was an inspirational individual.”

Phil Bramall, a friend of the Willson family, kindly donated savings made from sending Christmas cards by email to his company’s clients rather than by post. Phil kindly provides pro bono accountancy services to the JWCT through his company Tenbury Ltd. This is the second year that Phil has contributed to the JWCT by this means.

Jeremy’s girlfriend, Amanda Ton, raised close to £2,000 for the JWCT running a marathon in the heat and humidity of Malaysia, on 22 November. The Penang Bridge Marathon crosses the third longest bridge in the world of the same name, which connects Penang island to the Malay Peninsula.

 Amanda said prior to flying out to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital city “I carry a weight of worry for this marathon as it is the longest distance I will attempt to date. Also, my training has been in cold dry winter and spring conditions whereas the actual race will be in hot and humid tropical weather. Five years ago I never thought I could do it . . . Now, I have more trust in myself then ever because Jeremy inspired me to get the most out of my days. Also, he taught me that running is about much more than just running.”

Amanda, accompanied by her friend Josephine Tran, completed the mammoth 42km distance in a very respectable 4 hours, 41 minutes and 16 seconds. Amanda said on finishing the event “I do think Jeremy would be happy and we'd be celebrating over copious quantities of dumplings & cheap Asian beer”, adding “I can't explain the relief I feel from finishing the marathon successfully, but also the peace I have to know it's all come to an end.”

Jonny Allcock, a good friend of Jeremy’s from their year out in Indonesia (see photo gallery) raised an incredible £4,150 to help Jeremy’s charity help more people get an opportunity to achieve their dreams. Jonny, accompanied by his sister Claire, raised the funds running the Windsor Half-Marathon on 27 September.

Jonny explained his preparation on race-day: “In true Jez [Jeremy] style we managed to lose all paperwork, running number and chip just 30 minutes before the start and I found myself at the back of a long queue for the admin tent panicking and sweating profusely rather than taking on water and stretching! But Rach [Jonny’s wife] barged through to the front of the queue and found that some kind angel had found my envelope on the ground and handed it in some minutes earlier . . . So all was well and in true Jez tradition I made it to the back of the starting line as the race began!” Despite the heat and the hills and describing himself as an “asthmatic Guinness-drinking man” Jonny completed the full 13.1 miles in a respectable 2 hours 29 minutes.

Jonny now has his eye on the Reading and Bath Half Marathons in March 2010, and aims to shave five minutes off every year for the next six years so he can complete a two-hour Half Marathon at the age of 40.

Simon Ferguson and Tim Grimble have completed a challenge to cycle 700 miles in 7 days, from Paris to Nice, traversing 7 of the high cols of the Alps, raising over £1,800 for the JWCT. The pair, supported by Peter and Clare Grimble (Tim’s father and sister), covered an incredible 698 miles (1,124 km) during their gruelling cycle, notching up 59 hours 50 minutes in the saddle, and consuming over 17,500 calories.

Tough climbs included the Col de Glandon, 1,472 m of vertical ascent over 21.4 km of road, an average gradient of 7%. The cols reached were Col de la Croix de Fer (2,067m) via Col de Glandon (1,924m), Col de Sarenne (1,989m) via Alpe d'Huez (1,850m), Col du Lauteret (2,058m), Col d'Izoard (2,360m), Col du Vars (2,108m), Col de Cayolle (2,326m), Col de la Couillole (1,678m) and Col St Martin (1,500m).

Simon said “we worked really hard for the first four days and this bought us enough time to pace ourselves through the rest of the Alps. We could have done more but we were lucky to have generally benevolent weather and not a single injury or health problem.” Despite having to divert their route due to several cols being closed due to snow, and facing a hailstorm and torrential rain the team hit the welcome sunshine and beach on the Cote d'Azur within the target time, helped by speeds of up to 73.3 km/h (45.5 mph) on the downward stretches.

Simon explained his reasons for supporting the JWCT: “as a life-long beneficiary of the experiences of travel and active pursuits and the good fortune of disability-free health I strongly believe in giving young people, already faced with challenges, the opportunity to realise their potential.” Both Simon and Tim had accompanied Matt Willson, Jeremy’s brother, in the London to Edinburgh challenge for the JWCT in May 2008.

A friend and colleague from Jeremy’s Bristol University days, Pete Goddard, completed an arduous marathon in poor conditions along Dorset’s Jurassic coastline in aid of the JWCT.

Pete described his experience as follows: “A night of heavy rain and high winds . . . wasn't particularly encouraging for the race on Saturday morning, my foreboding was made worse at the wet and cold pre-race briefing where I seemed to be the only person foolish enough not to have specialist fell running footwear. The course was a figure of eight that went west along the coastal path to Kimmeridge Bay, then up onto the Purbeck hills and back inland to near the start at Worth Matravers, where it then crossed back to the coastal path eastwards until the headland near Swanage, before returning inland to the finish at Worth Matravers. As we set off the rain stopped and although breezy, conditions were pretty good - we even had some sun. Beforehand I thought the hills would be the biggest challenge but in fact they weren't too bad - many were too steep (and slippery) to attempt to run up so everyone had to walk them. It was very muddy underfoot and I slipped and slid all over the place, including some spectacular flat-on-the-face moments.”

Despite the challenging weather and hilly terrain, Pete rounded off the 26.2miles in just over four hours. Pete said “as with some low points during the training, thinking of Jeremy's drive and determination got me through and gave me the will to grin and bear the pain to carry on.” The event on 18 November 2008 raised over £1,000 for the JWCT.

Oli Brown, a good friend of Jeremy, braved the tough conditions of the world’s most northerly 7,000m peak to raise £1,250 for the JWCT commenting after the climb “I think it was certainly the most tiring thing I've ever done”. Oli climbed the north ridge of Khan Tengri, a 7,010m mountain in the Tien Shan range on the border of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The mountain, whose name means ‘Lord of the Spirits’, is spectacularly capped by a pyramid of marble. It has notoriously fickle weather and temperatures that drop to minus 35C and the route was steep and exposed, and vertical in a few places.

Despite having a liver/gall-bladder infection which nearly resulted in a helicopter evacuation, Oli kept giving it ‘just one more day’ until the team reached Camp Three after a day stuck in a blizzard at Camp Two. Oli commented “we had absolutely perfect conditions for the summit. Not long after we left the tents at 4am it started to get light and soon we were high enough to get a stunning view over the north and south Inylchek glaciers (some of the largest in the world outside the Poles) and for a hundred kilometres in every direction across the central Tien Shan. Nine and a half hours later we were standing on top and another 5 or so more saw me back down at camp three. Very, very tired but content.”

Oli commented that “Jez was a dear friend of mine who would have loved to come on this climb. He was a remarkable guy.” He also said of the JWCT “this is a great organisation that is making a real difference”.

Charmain Mohamed and Greg Andrew kindly asked their wedding guests to donate to the JWCT instead of giving them presents at the ceremony on the 31 May 2008. Charmain and Greg, both good friends of Jeremy, having volunteered with him in Indonesia in 1993, helped raise £770 for the JWCT.

Greg said "Jez [Jeremy] was an important friend to both of us, as we all met back when we were seventeen years old, embarking on a year's adventure in Indonesia. We loved him very dearly and he would have continued to be an important part of our lives. Neither of us felt like climbing a mountain or running a marathon, so instead we decided to get married to raise money for the charity. Jez would have been proud!"

Charmain added "I think Jez would have been tickled pink to hear that Greg and I finally got together after all those years. As our oldest 'joint' friend it was incredibly sad he couldn't share celebrating our marriage with us, so asking our guests to donate to the charity instead of buying us presents seemed the most obvious and natural thing to do."

Matt Willson, accompanied by friends Simon Ferguson and Tim Grimble, successfully completed a challenge to swim, cycle and run from London to Edinburgh.

Following a chilly 2-mile swim in the Serpentine in Hyde Park in 1 hour 5 mins, Matt joined the team at Marble Arch, London, for a very early rise to cycle the 439 miles over four days to Edinburgh. The first two days covering 256 miles via Peterborough and Lincoln proved to be relatively easy going however days three and four were much harder with some long climbs through the Yorkshire Moors and Border Country.

The team were blessed with an efficient support team (Matt’s father and brother Tom) who kept them well fed and watered, and the weather was favourable, meaning that they were able to cruise into Edinburgh following a relatively easy 47 mile last day’s cycle. The following day the team were up early again for the Edinburgh Marathon which Matt ran in a painful 3 hours 50 mins. Matt could barely walk at the end of the marathon but was pleased to complete without too many mishaps apart from the odd bike accident and lost team members!

The event, which quickly evolved from a pub conversation to reality, raised over £7,000 for the JWCT and increased awareness of the JWCT and Jeremy’s story. See articles in the Kent Messenger and Surrey Advertiser.

Articles reporting on how the team fared can be seen in the Kent Messenger and on TV in the Meridian News.

Two tough girls, Lucy Cannock and Lorna Buckwell (see photo), ran the London Marathon for the JWCT in April 2008, both raising essential funds for the charity.

Lucy explained in the months before the endurance event that she had put herself through “an insane training regime of ‘before sunrise’ starts and a daily dose of pain and embarrassment as I run around London desperately trying to find miles to run”. The training paid off and she achieved an official finishing time of 3 hours 51 minutes. The day after the event she explained that she was a “little sore” and “not walking in the most attractive fashion”, however she raised an incredible £1,300 from the generosity of her family and friends.

Lorna completed the event in a fantastic 4 hours 19 minutes despite sustaining an injury weeks before. After finishing she said “the last 4.2 miles were really tough and it started to hail as I trudged towards Big Ben but the crowd were really amazing and they definitely helped me get round. The feeling of elation on crossing the finishing line is quite something”. Lorna explained that she had chosen to raise money for the charity set up in memory of Jeremy Willson because “I probably would not be running a marathon if it wasn't for the example Jeremy set to live life to the full and to attempt new challenges.” Lorna raised over £800 thanks to her efforts.