Community Fun Run 2009 breaks all records
COMMUNITY FUN RUN PRESS RELEASE
HABERDASHERS ASKES BOY'S SCHOOL, HERTFORDSHIRE
SUNDAY 24TH MAY 2009
Sunday saw the record breaking third Community Fun Run take place, a unique community initiative that involved 27 Jewish community organisations. More than 700 runners took part and over 1,500 people attended the whole day. The most important figure is the £100,000 that was raised between all the charities. Logistically managed by Maccabi GB the following organisations were involved: Boys Town Jerusalem, Camp Simcha, the CST, Chai Cancer Care, Chana, the Creative Clinic, Emunah, The GM Trust, Hadassah UK, JAMI, Jewish Childs Day, Jewish Blind and Disabled, Jewish Care, Jewish Deaf Association, the Jewish News, League of Jewish Women, Maccabi GB, Magen David Adom, No Surrender, Norwood, Tribe, Tzedek, UJIA, WIZO.uk, Youth Aliyah Child Rescue, Zaka and Zichron Menachem.
Another record on the day was the weather. The first couple of years have seen this event greeted with torrential rain. However on Sunday Haberdashers' was covered in glorious sunshine and it was the hottest day of the year so far. As always, the participants started arriving early and by 9am there was a great atmosphere around the school's grounds as the countdown to the start began. It was inspiring to see 'athletes' of all ages and abilities and in an array of outfits turning up and taking their place at the starting line.
With the 10km run set to start at 10.00, over 325 runners were at the start line and raring to go. After a quick warm up by Alexis Jacobson the runners were off and began making their way around the cross-country course, perfectly designed by Maccabi GB's Matthew Travers.
As the run was taking place, more people started to arrive as registration for the 5km run began and families were arriving to take part in the Fun day and Charity fair. The great news was that due to the fine weather, most of the Fun day took place outside in the beautiful sunshine. There were face painters, a bouncy castle, penalty shootout, arts and crafts plus lots more to keep the community occupied.
The runners started crossing the line after 34 minutes which gives an indication of the high standard of competitors and with the home straight packed with spectators; much encouragement was given as the participants crossed the line.
With all the 10km athletes safely over the line, a further 375 5km runners took their place on the start line with the run starting at 11.30. It was an amazing sight to see all of the runners go through the start line and once again, there were some great times coming in as the first athletes began to cross the line with barely 20 minutes on the clock.
There was a great sense of achievement for a lot of the runners as they had been training for the run for many weeks and had raised a lot of money for charity at the same time. All the charities are still receiving sponsorship money from their runners however the initial estimates are that more than £100,000 was raised between all the charities involved, a fantastic achievement.
Daniel Morris, Maccabi GB's Major Events Manager and Community Fun Run organiser said, "Following 2 years of horrendous weather on the day of the Community Fun Run we had started to think the event was jinxed! To wake up on Sunday morning and see blue skies was a great start to the day and set the tone for the event. Something that the event hasn't seen over the past couple of years is whole families showing up to support their loved ones and this just added to the great community feel. For the third year in a row a number of the major Jewish organisations in the UK have joined together to put on an event and this proves that it can be done. Our initial aims were to mobilise the community and raise funds for the community and these have been more than achieved with 1,500 people involved throughout the day and an estimated £100,000 raised. Our thanks go out to all of the volunteers without whom we could not run the event and also to the event sponsors, the Jewish News and the Creative Clinic."
Planning for the 2010 Community Fun Run is already underway and to register your interest in taking part please email info@communityfunrun.org
To view photos click here!