We were so pleased to have such fantastic support for the JTYAF at this years inaugural Bournemouth Marathon Festival. We had 10 runners in the Marathon, 3 in the Half Marathon, 3 in the 10K and 8 in the 5K, which was a brilliant achievement for a small local charity.

It was a great weekend which saw a real carnival atmosphere surrounding the event and although the weather was probably not ideal for the runners it was perfect for the supporters. The town was buzzing and we were just so proud to be part of it. We had many first time runners, runners who battled through injuries and many experienced runners too, but each and every one of them commands our respect for completing their distance in an unexpected October heat wave. Well done to everyone who took part! Quite a number of the JTYAF runners had a personal connection to John but there were also many friends that John had never met and we can't thank them all enough for their support.

As if it wasn't enough to complete their distance the JTYAF Runners also smashed their fundraising targets. We have already received over £6000 in sponsorship and the total is still rising. Fundraising star, Amber O'Dea (pictured below, blowing kissing to her little girls) is in the lead with an amazing £1000, thanks to her employers LV=, who have kindly provided fund matching.

It's not too late to support them, so if you're feeling like making a donation please don't hesitate to visit our runners fundraising pages (links below).

Running for JT were:-

Marathon

Helene Rocha,Claire Hunt, Alexander Pearson, Bruce Wareham, Ian Thornton, Matt Snook, Russell Long, Rus Scagell, Sara Cubitt and George Rowe

Half Marathon

Paula Meldrum, Joe Barnett and Alex Wills

10K

Andy Martin, AmberODea and Gary Tyler

Matt Cheeseman, Rikki Elms, Linda Thornton, Lorna Perry, Liz Norman, Jessica Ousey, Lottie Gilbert and Andy Fitzpatrick - Congratulations to Lorna Perry who came first in her age group!

A big, big thank you to all our runners - every step that they took and every pound that they have raised will help us to continue to support local young people - providing them with the opportunities to follow their ambitions......