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Singapore
Marathon – December 2007
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Jeremy’s
older brother Simon and his fiancée Aileen competed in
the Singapore Marathon and Half Marathon events in December 2007.
With temperatures of 30 degrees C, high humidity, a cloud-free
sky and not a breath of wind, they described the conditions as
‘brutally tough’. Simon suffered badly from
cramp during the second half of the race. He said that in these
latter stages, “people were dropping out like flies
around me, so there was little to inspire me to keep going apart
from my iPod. It was like a war-zone”. However,
“two pee stops and about 5000 drinks later”,
he was pleased to finish in a respectable 4 hours 22 minutes,
1195th out of almost 10,000 athletes.
Aileen
admits to having trained more than Simon. She said that in her
race, she “consciously held back for the first ten miles”,
but for the last 5 kms, “the sun was up. It was tough going,
but I just concentrated on picking off people ahead of me and
using them as hares.” She did this with great success
and finished in 1 hour 49 minutes, the 26th woman to finish out
of 2,000 entries. Jeremy would certainly have been really proud
of their achievements.
Through
their efforts, Simon and Aileen raised almost £3,000 for
the JWCT. The money will help the charity support athletes, both
able-bodied and disabled, in realising their ambitions. |
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JWCT
nominated as school charity of the year - November 2007
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The
pupils at Maidstone Grammar School (MGS) kindly selected the JWCT
as their nominated charity during their Charities Week in November
2007, donating essential funds to help the JWCT. A cheque for £2,000,
raised from numerous activities and events, was presented at a school
assembly on 26 November 2007 to Jeremy’s parents Nick and
Tricia, by Prefect, Dan Harnett. The headmaster, Neil Turrell, spoke
about his memories of Jeremy. Nick thanked the staff and pupils
for the fantastic donation and adding that Jeremy and his three
brothers had all benefitted greatly from their years at MGS. He
encouraged the pupils to do something worthwhile in their gap year
or long school holiday as Jeremy had, and emphasised that it would
give the Willson family great pleasure to be able to support a pupil
from the school in the future. Click here
for newspaper report in the Kent Messenger. |
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Amsterdam
Half Marathon - October 2007
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Friends of Jeremy, Tim & Helen
Davies, ran the Amsterdam Half Marathon to raise funds for the
JWCT in October. As Tim said “Despite a gloomy start to
the weekend, having watched England stumble on Trafalgar Day weekend
to an apparently more worthy South African opponent in the World
Cup final . . . Sunday started with what can only be described
for Holland as a pleasant albeit somewhat cold day.”
Tim finished in 1 hour 38 mins,
followed shortly by Helen in 1 hour 49 mins, an impressive personal
best time after springing back from injury at the eleventh hour.
In the process they managed to raise an impressive £1,115
with sponsorship from more than six countries around the globe.
As Helen said “We'll keep on running for Jeremy, I have
to say I thought of him many times during the run, especially
the hardest bits, his voice (shouting encouragement) kept popping
into my head and got me through it.”
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London
Marathon - April 2007
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Steve
Throssell pushed himself to the limit in April 2007 by running
in the London Marathon, in the process raising a fantastic £275
for the JWCT’s activities. Steve said “Having
already run three marathons including this one twice before, I
knew what I was letting myself in for as I lined up on Blackheath.
However, this didn’t keep the nerves at bay as the temperature
was steadily rising and I had been taken out by a virus just a
few weeks before which set my training back and prevented me completing
the most important long training runs.
Despite
these pre-race nerves, I managed to complete the course in 3 hours
9 mins. It wasn’t easy though and to do this event requires
a lot of hard work and dedication over many months. The rewards
at the end of it are definitely worth it though and if you have
the ability to dedicate yourself to something challenging I would
recommend this in a heartbeat!” |
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Bendonsport
Women's Triathlon, New Zealand – January 2007
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Kate
Gallop raised almost £300 for the JWCT in her first ever
triathlon, cheered on by partner Scott and daughter Daisy at Pilot
Bay, Mount Maunganui. Kate said “To cross the finish
line will take strength, commitment, endurance and a sense of
both adventure and humour - traits which Jeremy possessed in abundance.”
She added “I can't think of a better way to celebrate
Jez's life. He would have been the first person to laugh as I
try and gracefully exit my wetsuit and find my bike amongst hundreds…” |
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Detroit
Half Marathon, USA - October 2006
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Rhiannon
Martin (pictured far left) completed the Detroit Half Marathon
in October raising an impressive £700 for the JWCT. Rhiannon
is now thinking about completing a full marathon next year! |
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Three
Peaks Challenge, UK - September 2006
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A
team from London Zoo undertook the Three Peaks Challenge in September,
an attempt to climb the highest mountains in Scotland, England
and Wales (Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon) in under 24 hours,
including travel time. Matt Willson, Melissa Lewis, Melody Fears,
Lucy Cannock and Henry Churchill (with invaluable logistical support
from Mandy Lee and Stella Kondylas) made a speedy climb of Scotland’s
highest peak, however England’s highest was tough thanks
to the thick mist, horizontal rain and it being the middle of
the night! Due to the late arrival at the final peak the team
were not able to complete the challenge however Matt and Melissa
went on to climb Snowdon, raising the flag for the rest of the
team in just under 28 hours. The team raised almost £2,000!
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