Thousands raised by many runners for charities in ‘Dawn to Dusk’ relay challenge

*Sara Tuck (left) is pictured with her running partner Natalie Howson on the Orme

Thousands of pounds raised by many runners for charities in ‘Dawn to Dusk’ relay challenge in North Wales

Report by Don Hale 

Relay teams from North Wales and across the globe ran hundreds of miles with many also raising thousands of pounds for charities in a unique ‘Dawn to Dusk’ challenge held last weekend.

Facing a target of running in teams of three over a 12-hour period from 6am to 6pm, endurance athletes of mixed genre and ability, combined their efforts to try to run as far as possible within this strict time period, with prizes given to winning teams.

Promoted as an exciting green challenge, entrants were also given the option to donate towards their own chosen charity, or to Mind, Sporting Equals, or NHS charities. 

And additionally, they were also encouraged to make a separate donation towards the organiser’s sustainable partners, Mossy Earth, who will plant a tree in their name in the Southern Carpathians.

The event attracted runners from a number of North Wales sporting organisations and as keen fitness individuals, running a four-hour section on a course of their own choice and subject to Covid-19 restrictions. Subsequently, many entrants later recorded personal best times and/or ran their longest-ever distances.

Helen Hannam from North Wales Road Runners teamed up with Lucy Healy from Criw Colwyn, and her friend Hayley Jones, to complete this challenge, and recorded an amazing combined total distance of 90-miles. 

Helen Hannam (left) with her training partner Hannah Griffith

On completion of her own superb marathon effort, Helen said: ‘Today, I ran with two of my friends, and we took on the Dawn till Dusk 12-hour challenge. I ran for four hours and was really pleased to clock up 22-miles, my longest-ever run. Lucy did 28-miles, and Hayley 40, so 90-miles in total.

‘It was some amazing running ladies, we smashed it! And thank you especially to Hannah Griffith for joining me for the last two-hours, which I really appreciated, as I was struggling at that point. 

‘Sore legs now but pretty chuffed with myself to say the least. I might even attempt a marathon in a few weeks, if my legs let me!’

Hayley added: ‘I took on this challenge and between us we clocked up 90-miles and our longest ever runs. Fab running ladies. I enjoyed it although we’re all sore now.’

Sara Tuck from the GOG’s ran with her team of Mark Wright and Hayley Price-Jones, who were just running for the fun of it, also recorded some excellent finishing times and distances.

Sara Tuck met up with marathon fundraiser and athlete Steve Bozier

Sara confirmed that it was one of her toughest challenges and explained: ‘I was able to record 20-miles, my furthest ever. I ran several loops around the Orme and finished in Craig-y-Don. The wind was horrendous, and my thanks to Natalie Howson for her support. 

Natalie, however, and just like Hannah, was not actually part of a team, or this particular challenge, but was running in support of her friend Sara, and began her fundraising for the MS Society as part of her forthcoming London Marathon challenge.

She said: ‘I ran 18-miles this morning which was three times around the Orme. The wind made it super-tough. I was only meant to be doing it twice to help support Sara.

‘I was so overwhelmed by all the messages of support and kind donations. When I finished and looked at my JustGiving page, I was so emotional, and I’ve had so many messages from people telling me how MS has affected their lives. And well done to Sara for completing her challenge.’

                 Hayley Price-Jones is pictured running her Dawn to Dusk challenge

Sara’s colleague Hayley Price-Jones added: ‘We had twelve hours to get in as many miles as we could. We were predicting our mileage for fun and running loops of the Orme. I did 19.5 miles which was three loops round the Orme from the West Shore side. Well done team, we managed 59.5 miles in total which was awesome!’

                       Sara Tuck (left) with team mate Hayley-Price Jones

Targets were also set for a number of different activity sections, with coloured wristbands and commemorative wooden eco-medals available to finishers, along with spot prizes and both individual and team awards eligible to category winners.

 

*Further details are available from: https://ultra-x.co/dawn2dusk/