Charity fun run is great success
173 people took part in a charity fun run around
Paul, who worked in the old Invincibles Lounge for 14 years, lost his battle with cancer on Christmas Day. He left his wife Sarah, who gave birth to their daughter Leah two days later, and sons Luke and Zack. Friends and colleagues of Paul recently got together to decide what they could do to honour his memory and raise some money for charity.
A disco and cabaret night was organised at Preston Grasshoppers Rugby Union Football Club on Saturday 22nd November. Over two thousand pounds was raised on the night, which even saw a special appearance from Sir Tom Finney.
Following on from that event, ‘The Best 5k Fun Run’ was held on Sunday. Steve Ashcroft, who worked with Paul Best at Preston North End, was the main organiser in a team involved in planning and overseeing the race.
A lot of preparation
“In planning the fun run we’ve been gathering a lot of things together – we’ve got sponsors, we’ve sorted out the prizes,” said Ashcroft.
“Also, we’ve had to contact the council and get the race entry forms – and go all over the
Janice Johnstone, who works in the Invincibles Bar, helped Steve with the organising. She said: “We’ve all just tried to get as many people involved as possible, like asking people in the bar when they’ve come up if they’re interested in taking part.”
To enter the race it cost £3 for people in advance or £4 on the day. In return, entrants received mementos, including a £5 gift voucher for a specialist running shop, a ‘goodie-bag’ and a medal – all paid for by the football club, who generously sponsored the event.
The race organiser said: “They’ve been very helpful – they’ve allowed access to the office, they’ve printed forms, and they’ve even sponsored the event.”
The race
Competitors arrived at Deepdale Stadium to register in the Sir Tom Finney Reception, before making their way across the road to Moor Park Avenue. The five kilometres run around
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As well as people from the local community, members from an abundance of running clubs and other organisations in
- Astley & Tyldesley Road Runners
- Bingley Harriers
- Bury Athletics Club
- Darwen Dashers
- Deepdale Dashers
- Fylde Tri
- Garstang Running Club
- Horwich RMI Harriers
- Lancaster & Morecambe
- Leigh Harriers
- Oldham & Royton Harriers
- PNE
- Spectrum Striders
- Team
- Women’s Running Network –
The slideshow below voices participants’ views and shows photographs from the event, including a special visit from the North End mascot Deepdale Duck!
146 were recorded to have finished the race, and out of those here are the top three:
1) David Feernley from the Darwen Dashers – 17 minutes nine seconds
2) Paul Dodsworth from Warrington Athletics Club – 17 minutes 16 seconds
3) Jamie Rose – 17 minutes 23 seconds
The fastest woman was Lauren Cooper (20 minutes 40 seconds), who finished 20th overall.
A full list of results can be found at Shoestring results.
Enjoyable
It was a crisp and frosty, yet bright and sunny Sunday morning in
Everybody in the community who took part in the race wore a smile and they all appeared to be enjoying themselves.
Sarah said that’s just the way her husband would’ve wanted it.
“He was such a joker, he made everybody laugh. His personality is what’s brought everybody together really, because he was such a character.”
Money raised
Sarah will be passing on the funds generated from Sunday’s event to the East Lancashire Hospice in
“He would’ve wanted the money to go there because he was involved in quite a bit of fundraising as well,” she said.
“He would’ve been really pleased for the money raised today to go to the hospice in
Annual event
Following the success of Sunday, race organiser Steve Ashcroft confirmed that ‘The Best 5k Fun Run’ will become an annual event, taking place on the last weekend in November.
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