Two Horsham mums devise fitness drive post lockdown

Sarah Kirby and Lisa Jarvis are organising the St Mary’s 50K Challenge, and are seeking to encourage entrants to cover 50 kilometres throughout the month of July.

So far nearly 200 people have signed up to participate, pledging to walk, run, jog, scoot, pedal and even scoot their way to the target. Everybody who reaches the target will receive a specially-made commemorative medal.

Mums Sarah and Lisa came up with the idea as a way of helping families regain their fitness following months of being locked down, while raising money for St Mary’s Church of England Primary School, where their children attend.

Sarah said: “One of the biggest challenges for parents during the past few months has been making sure they and their children get enough exercise. Now that restrictions have been loosened, we thought it would be the right time to set the local community this ambitious challenge.

“Participants can break it down into a couple of long runs, complete five 10ks or ten 5ks, split it down to 11.5k per week or just 1.6k per day. We organised a 5k event in May for St Mary’s Pre-School and it was hugely successful - we think this can be even better.”

All money raised will go directly to the charity St Mary’s HSA and will be spent on enhancing the educational experience of the children.

The challenge is open to anybody, regardless of age and tickets are now on sale at a cost of £12 each. Book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/st-marys-50k-challenge-tickets-106911691748