College Trio Run 2018 London Marathon for Charity

Three friends who work together at Exeter College have completed the Virgin London Marathon for the first time to raise money for charity.

Among them are Sharon Gilborson, from Cranbrook, who ran to raise money for Prostate Cancer UK, a charity very close to her heart. Sharon has been running for 13 years and ran her first half marathon in 2005.

Joanna Webb, from Exton, had wanted to run a marathon since she was little and having done three half marathons previously, she was thrilled to finally get a place in this year’s London Marathon. Joanna’s niece Maisey is deaf, so she chose to raise money for The National Deaf Childrens Society.

Catherine Platt, from Exeter, first began running at school to help with exam stress, however she became really focused on running in her early twenties when she was diagnosed with a mental health problem, as running really helped her with this.

She said:

I am passionate about raising awareness and understanding of mental health illnesses and reducing the stigma around it, which is why I ran on behalf of the mental health charity MIND.

All three runners are members of the Exeter College running club and although they have all enjoyed running for a while this was the first time any of them had taken on the 26.2 mile challenge on Sunday 23rd April.

The training process wasn't an easy one. Catherine suffered an injury during training which set her back a few weeks and Joanna couldn’t train for months due to a hamstring injury, but this didn't put them off and with the support of each other and the running club all three of them completed the event.

Each of them were delighted to have completed their first ever marathon and despite saying ‘never again’ on the day they have all entered the ballot again for next year.