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Washington Marine Corps 10k Race
The 34th
Marine Corps 10k race took
place in Washington DC on Sunday 25 October 2009. This race
immediately follows the Marine Corps Marathon, and follows part
of the same course through the streets of the United States
capital city.
Sarah Hayes decided to run in this race, and
to raise sponsorship to fund projects at Barra-Essau Upper Basic
School in The Gambia. Sarah had been helping this school for
some time, and has a sponsored pupil there. She took the photos
below during a visit early in 2009.
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Sarah with staff and
pupils of the Barra/Essau UBS |
pupils relaxing after
football practice at the school |
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Preparations
Sarah did quite a bit of hill
training in Italy, including an ascent of Montecorona, near
Umbertide in
Umbria, running a steep 11.75 km in 78 minutes in 90 degree heat.
Ouch!! She then ran the races listed below in
preparation for the Marine Corps race:
Sarah in the Great Edinburgh Run
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11 May -
Great Edinburgh Run in a time of
64 minutes for the 10km distance.
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28 June -
Lordshill 10k [Southampton] in a
time of 56 mins 34 secs.
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5 July -
City of Manchester 10k in a time of
54 mins 12 secs [Sarah's personal best!].
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12 July -
ASICS London 10k in a time of 56 mins 51 secs, slower than she expected, because she got stuck in a
crowd of 27,000 runners!!!
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15 August -
London Pride 10K [Hackney] in a
time of 55 mins* and came 5th in her class.
(*time from line to line as recorded by Sarah. Official time of
56:30 is from gun to scanning a chip, with delays at both ends)
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22 August -
Birchwood 10K, [Warrington] with a chip time of
53 mins 51 secs - a new personal best.
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6 September -
BUPA Great Yorkshire Run [Sheffield]
with a chip time of 53 mins 41 secs - shaving 10 secs off her
personal best! Sarah was 8th out of 90 in her category [females
50-55].
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12 September -
Marple
10k 'Trail' run [Cheshire]
Organised by the Marple Firemen and sponsored by the
Ring of Bells
pub. Sarah's time was 49 mins 59
secs, breaking the 50 minute barrier for the first time.
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4 October,
Manchester Tree-Athlon 5K in
23 mins 43 secs.
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11 October,
Yorkshire Coast 10K in a new
personal best chip time 49 mins 18 secs. Sarah won her category.
The Big Race
Sarah completed the 10k race with a chip time
of 49 mins 18 secs, equalling her personal best. She came 7th
out of 203 in her division. She already had pledges of support from
around the world, and then raised an amazing total of £1470 through
Pageant. Below are some of Sarah's pictures of the race:
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Guess who saw Sarah off
(courtesy Mme Tussaud's) |
the nerves are showing |
the starting gun is
bigger than usual |
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done it! Sarah after the
race |
the Marines who looked
after Sarah
and the other runners |
Sarah's final sponsorship total was £1535.
Barra-Essau UBS have spent this money on new classroom benches,
upgrading the staff room and the library (new table, flooring,
ceiling, chairs for the former and new
flooring, ceiling and bookshelves for the latter) and several sets
of strip for school football and athletics teams, footballs and some
tracksuits for the PE staff.
Mr Jallow, the Barra-Essau UBS headmaster has
emailed us:
"The athletes performed well (at the Schools National Championship)
for the first time in the history of the school, 2nd in the region
and 13th nationally. Everybody is happy about the jerseys even the
villagers. To inform you, the school will host the football gala in
June 2010. Say hi to Sarah and family and inform her about the
performance of the school."
2010 - The Next Challenge
Sarah is now looking for another challenge to
raise further funds for her projects at Barra/Essau Upper Basic
School. We will let you know as soon as we have more information.
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