With mass participation events beginning to start up again, we were thrilled when mother and daughter team, Sharon and Sienna Banks said that they’d run the Herts Half Marathon to raise money for us at Youth Talk.
Having trained through what must have seemed like never ending rain in May, the weather turned – resulting in a hot day at Knebworth for all the runners. This year the Herts Half Marathon course was hilly – the terrain at Knebworth is pretty unforgiving – so Sharon was hoping for a 2 hrs 20 to 2 hrs 30 time based on a flat course.
Why run for Youth Talk?
Sharon told us that “working for a school and as a Mum of three teens, I have seen first hand the impact Covid-19 has had on our young people in combination with increased exposure to social media from the isolation during the various lockdowns.
That is why my daughter and I signed up to the Herts Half Marathon fundraiser for Youth Talk – we started running outdoors during lockdown and she kept pushing me to go further and further! ”
Sharon’s training regime saw her embracing the ‘connect with nature’ theme from Mental Health Awareness week – with training runs around Verulamium in St Albans and bike rides through Symondshyde Woods with their spectacular bluebells.
She added
“There is something about being outdoors, appreciating the change in seasons in combination with endorphins and fresh air! … and don’t let the weather put you off”
Making sponsorship easy with Virgin Money Giving
Sharon and Sienna really showed off how easy it is to set up their fundraising page on the Virgin Money Giving site – and made it so personal – we loved it. If you’d like to add to their already phenomenal total, you can donate here
And the final time…
2 hours and 18 minutes – despite the heat and the hills!
The Youth Talk team would like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to Sienna and Sharon for supporting us. We will be putting the money raised to work helping us reach our target of delivering 100 counselling sessions a week to young people in St Albans and the surrounding areas.
Inspired?!
Raising just £10 for Youth Talk can make a huge difference to a young person who really needs someone to talk to.