TechMarketView team completes 250km for GOSH!

I’m feeling a little overwhelmed this morning. It’s been absolutely amazing how the TechMarketView team has thrown themselves into the virtual RBC Race for the Kids over the weekend. It’s a cause very close to the O’Toole family’s hearts: Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSH CC). Our youngest son, Thomas, has been cared for by the hospital for over a decade. For the whole team to come together to raise money so that other children can benefit from the same wonderful staff and facilities is incredible.

This morning I gathered some Race reports! And a quick back of the envelope calculation suggests that the team and our families covered around 250km between us – well over the 100km promised to our sponsors. I must give a special shout-out to Helen McTeer, who covered a phenomenal 55km participating in the Jurassic Coast Ultra. Unsurprisingly, Helen says she could now sleep for a week! Across the rest of the team:

• Duncan completed a 10.2km stroll through the Surrey Hills on Saturday and followed that up with a 54km cycle on Sunday.
• Angela dodged the trees and kicked through the leaves of Guildford, as she ran 5km.
• Becci and the Johnson girls took on a 5km run around the streets of Farnham, while hubby Andrew walked a quieter 15km route through the Tilford countryside.
• Martin finished a 10km run along the River Cam.
• Tola and her two boys completed a 5km run on a very hilly cross country route in West Sussex.
• Belinda hopped on her bike and headed on a 19km route to the pub in Teddington for breakfast with a friend (sounds like she had the right idea!).
• Paula completed a 7.2km loop of Virginia Water Lake with her two young boys – “a combination of walking fast and jogging as it was a little too far or the boys”. They enjoyed the lovely day and the autumn colours.
• Kate ran, while her twins scooted, around the streets of Godalming, apparently picking up children as they went along!
• Dale ran 10km in the Forest of Dean (in 52.30), “brilliantly supported by Ted on his bike”. And it seems that Ted still had plenty of energy left, as he went on to claim 2^nd place on the U8s race at the Heart of England cyclocross event on Sunday.
• Marc completed a 5km circuit around the valley within which Bourton-on-the-Water sits: “A couple of farmers were out ploughing some of the fields that the footpath ran through so we had to take a couple of impromptu detours. It was great fun although I had to drag my son off the play station. Definitely want to do more of this”.
• Holly ended up, with a friend, doing a 20km mainly off road bike ride around the beautiful Surrey countryside, while both kids were out at football and netball matches.
• Emily and her family took on a 10km walking route.
• And Richard took his new puppy on a 5km walk around Frensham Little Ponds.

Finally, Thomas and I took on a 5km route around Alice Holt Forest. This time last year, it was 4 months after Thomas’ amputation and just 2 months after receiving his first prosthetic leg, and we took part in the same Race for the Kids at Hyde Park (alongside Tola and Marc and their families). He really struggled – not being used to running (or remembering to breathe!) he suffered a major stitch, nausea, and a headache on the first corner. We ended up walking for 80% of the time and completed the course in 59 minutes. This weekend we proved what a difference a year – and a running blade – can make. He was determined to beat his previous time and he smashed it. We finished the 5km with a running time of just under 37 minutes. It was quite emotional considering there have been times in his life when we thought he might not walk. I am struggling with stairs today - while, apparently, Thomas is feeling zero after effects (even after also completing a 9-hole golf bonanza in the afternoon)!

Posted by Georgina O'Toole at '09:49' - Tagged: csr   fundraising   charity