Last year over 6,600 energetic athletes raised £25,000 for local charities, and this year’s St Albans Half Marathon will include a group running in memory of a toddler who tragically died from sepsis.
Stephen Reader, of Harpenden, whose son Tyler died in November last year, hopes to add to the £12,000 already raised by the Tyler Reader Brighter Future Fund for Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).
He said that a group of four dubbed ‘Team Tyler’ had been training consistently for the half marathon this Sunday, June 12.
Stephen added: “While I would say that we are all relatively fit and active people, the realisation is definitely there that we are actually having to put the hours, or miles, in to this one.
“St Albans isn’t the flattest of areas, particularly around Verulamium Park, so there is a bit of a focus on hill training.
“I’ve only run this distance once before, at last year’s Great North Run, and it was definitely the hills that caused me problems ... and the blisters!
“We have set what is hopefully an achievable target of raising £500 as a team for the event which would be a great contribution to the £12,000-plus we have already managed to raise since the fund was set up.”
Stephen added: “Look out for us on the day in our lovely new purple running vests and t-shirts!”
On his online fundraising page, he explains that the team is running for GOSH’s children’s charity, as the hospital cared for Tyler.
He describes his son as “a beautiful cheeky young boy who went from being a perfectly healthy and happy toddler to losing his precious life in the space of four days after developing sepsis, after being diagnosed with a particularly aggressive strain of Group A Streptococcus.
“Tyler suffered six cardiac arrests during his eight hours in hospital care, passing away shortly before a heart-lung bypass could be performed.
“Since his passing, the Tyler Reader Brighter Future Fund has been set up to help raise money for GOSH so that they can provide the necessary training and equipment to help with cases as severe as Tyler’s.”
To donate click here or by texting ‘SAHM 55 £5’ to 70070.
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