A belated well done to Year 13 student Lorna Mattinson, who took on the 10-mile Brampton to Carlisle Race (starting from William Howard School), on Sunday 19th November. In doing so, Lorna also raised funds for the MacMillan Cancer Support charity.
Lorna said: “I have been running for a few years now and enjoy running every weekend despite the weather. I had a goal of running 10K, but after achieving this, I wanted to challenge myself to go further. I signed up to the Brampton to Carlisle Race as a goal to work towards which is 16.3km. I’ve been building up to 16K for several months, running from home (Little Corby), to Aglionby, to Wetheral, then to Burnsrigg (a total of 16.5K).
The front yard at William Howard School was filled with runners, mainly those who were part of running groups, which made me nervous as they all seemed very prepared to run this route as fast as they could. My goal during this race was to not run it as fast as I could, but to run it all without stopping and hit my usual time of 1 hour 30 minutes. It was quite an experience as I’ve never took part in a race before. The route was full of long flats and climbs, which was quite tiring but I’m proud to have completed my goal – not stopping and running it in 1 hour 30 minutes.
Alongside my 16K challenge, I decided to fundraise for MacMillan Cancer Support (through JustGiving.com). My initial target was £150, but with the much support from my family, friends and the local community, I have raised up to £225. It was an achievement to run this race, but I felt even more fulfilled raising money to help make a difference to the lives of people living with cancer. I want other students at WHS to know that they too can start their own fundraising for a charity important to them, whilst doing something they love most.”
There’s still time to boost Lorna’s fundraising total; if you’d like to donate, please visit: https://www.justgiving.com/page/lorna-mattinson-16km-runningformacmillan).
