The past 3 weekends have seen 3 marathons in 3 different countries, all with participants taking part to raise money for Latch.
Paris
The first event saw 12 runners from Vantage Data Centres take part in the Schneider Electric Paris Marathon. The city of love has hosted the race for the past 50 years, with recent years exceeding 50,000 competitors taking part. Setting out from the Champs-Elysees, the racers followed the now well trodden route of the Tour de Paris, winding their way through the historic city, passing by the Louvre, the Place de la Bastille, through Bois de Vincennes, before cruising by the Eiffel tower on the run up to the finish along the Avenue Foch.
Even though they were more than 400 miles away, they were sure to carry us with them, wearing the Latch logo proudly on their team shirts, showing that being here for childhood cancer can be done from anywhere. The Vantage DC team were able to raise more than £2500 to help Latch continue to provide services to families all across Wales.
Newport
April 19th saw 11 of 14 participants from team Latch lined up on the start line to take part in the ABP Newport Marathon Festival, 3 having to sit out the event due to injury, covering distances ranging from 10km to 42.6km around the city and wetlands, with some members taking on distances for the first time and some veterans heading for a PB on the fast and flat course. At 9am. the brisk morning air was broken by the starting gun, setting the more than 4000 marathon and half marathoners off on their trip which would take them through the iconic Newport stadium, past Pye Corner, before heading out towards Goldcliff. The sounds of thousands of footsteps had barely faded into the distance when the starting gun fired again, signalling the start of the 10k race, which saw more than 3000 participants taking part.
The Latch cheer squads located by the start / finish line and the 5 / 22 mile mark, had a great view of the runners streaming past making sure to cheer on team Latch as loud as they could (with more than one leaving the course with a rather croaky voice) giving the runners all the encouragement they could muster.
'Hearing Latch supporters shouting my name along the course was something I won’t forget. It really kept me going' said Kane, one of the runners taking on the half-marathon in aid of Latch, who managed to set a personal best time, beating his previous record by nearly 5 minutes.
And while the course may be considered a great route for PB due to its flat layout, that doesn't make it a push over. 'The marathon was tough. In the last 7 km I was already in tears because of the pain, but thanks to the encouragement from my family, the supporters, and the Latch team, I managed to make it to the finish line' said Daniel about his first marathon distance race.
Through all of the pain, sweat, and tears, the Latch team runners were able to raise more than £5000 for families affected by childhood cancer, making this one of the most successful Newport Marathon Festival's ever for Latch!
London
One of the largest races in the world took place for the 46th time on Sunday 26th April, and saw more than 1.1 million people applying to the ballot, and nearly 60,000 people crossing the finish line, with a further 4500+ people completing the virtual event. However the record breaking application and event numbers were outdone by the incredible finishing time of race winner Sebastian Sawe's, who managed to run the 42.2km course in under 2 hours.
With a backdrop like that, it would be a tall order to produce impressive results, but Team Latch managed to do so! In total, 6 runners took on the TCS London Marathon for Latch, with a further 4 completing the TCS London Marathon MyWay, between them raising more than £11,000! But it doesn't stop there, with one of the runners crossing the finish line in just over 3 hours, even while nursing an injury from earlier in the week, with another showing off their pure grit and determination coming home in a little over 9 hours! 'We had a great night running through the streets of London following the marathon course in reverse with hundreds of other crazy like minded people' said Claire and Hugh after their monster overnight effort.
But as difficult as the race was, the hard part for many runners was over. 'The training is the hardest part, the marathon is the fabulous, victory lap of heart, hope and humanity! Shared with so many extraordinary people running for their own heart-breaking causes. JUST WOW !!' said Jo, who was running her third London Marathon in aid of Latch. '[The marathon] was hard, hot and tough but absolutely LOVED IT! To run the London Marathon, not once but 3 times fundraising for Latch is truly an honour and an incredible, emotional unforgettable experience'. London was only part one of Jo's spring marathon calendar, with her taking on the Edinburgh Marathon at the end of May.
The 42.2km challenge isn't something anyone takes on lightly, and those who do it for charity take it on for reasons close to their heart; some do it to support a friend or family member, some to help other families going through situations that they have been through themselves, others to remember someone they lost. Abby decided to take on the race in memory of her nephew Ben, who passed away at age 8 from Ewing's Sarcoma, a type of bone cancer.
'I thought of how Ben thought of others while on treatment, putting on a puppet show on the ward to raise money for Latch despite being poorly himself. He so loved the activities put on by Latch, especially the art sessions, that he wanted to help make sure other children got the same experiences. So when it got tough out there on Sunday I thought that if Ben can do that while on treatment, then I can definitely put my big girl pants on and suck it up for the last few miles to help Latch.'
'I think Ben would have enjoyed the sites, sounds, colours and fun along the way and I thought about him a lot in the last few miles, asking him to just get me to the finish line. He did and when I saw that sign on The Mall that says 385 yards to go my heart soared. We had run London together!
As I crossed the line the emotion and build up of the last few months came pouring out of me and I sobbed. That's never happened before in any race. Then out of nowhere a lovely lady, a total stranger and fellow finisher, gave me a massive hug. It was the sincerest and purest gesture. She said gently, 'You've done it.' But I knew it was 'we' had done it, a classic Ben and Aunty Abs adventure.
On the way around the course there are loads of signs held up by the crowd. Many are funny but there are also the poignant ones. One I saw frequently was "Remember your why". My why was raising money for Latch in memory of my nephew Ben.
If anyone reading this is thinking of taking on the London Marathon for Latch, then please do it. You may question your life choices when you're pouring ice over yourself on the Isle of Dogs and thinking what have I done? But remember your why and it'll carry you to the finish line.'
