Climping resident Louise Brown will be running the London Marathon in October with her friend Liz Wardley. The two friends met on Maiden, a renowned yacht that Tracy Edwards raced around the world with the first all female crew in 1989.
Louise said: “As we were the two older women on Maiden’s crew, ie over 30, we started to spend time together and I quickly realized Liz and Barney (her dinosaur) were going to make summer in America lots of fun”.
Liz, who lives in Queensland, Australia added: “We got to know each other during a delivery from Annapolis to New York and it turned out she was a bit of an adventure junky like myself”
Louise explained to Liz that she was considering taking on the London Marathon in October and encouraged her to do the same.
“I proceeded to let her know that I disliked running and that she was a nutter, and thought little more about it. Then slowly, but surely, she snuck up on me. Just a little jog, just a trail run, just a 15km hike, just this, just that…. All of a sudden I’m her marathon training buddy.” Said Liz.
Liz is running for charity The Outward Bound Trust, they are an educational charity that helps young people to defy limitations through learning and adventures in the wild. It challenges young people to never give up, to change their perspective and to learn the most important lesson: to believe in themselves.
Louise added “I haven’t run a race since school and I’m not really a runner, by not really I mean, I bought my first pair of proper running shoes this year at 56, that said, I will finish, I promise You that and I’ll be raising money for Leonard Cheshire, it is a major health and welfare charity working in the United Kingdom and running development projects around the world.It was founded in 1948 by Royal Air Force officer Group Captain Leonard Cheshire VC. ”