Thanks to the power of Twitter an inter-Virgin group training session took place at the Virgin Balloon Flights offices here in Telford last night.
Steve Dubois of SteveOnTheRun.co.uk, a Customer Journey Specialist from Virgin Media Cambridge joined our Virgin London Marathon first timer and Customer Service Representative Susan Bowerman and myself (Eve Ashwell, Digital Marketing) for a nighttime training session on his way back from a meeting in Manchester, after spotting Sue’s tweets about her training and getting in touch.
Steve, who is also a marathon virgin, is running for the Charlie and Kathleen Dunnery Children's Fund (CKDCF) which was formed in 2002 with the sole aim of raising funds for children's health, wellness and educational needs in and around the Cumbria area.
Sue said:
It was great to train with other people as I normally only run on my own – having others to run with meant I ran further and it felt much easier and more fun.
Like Sue, Steve hasn’t run since leaving school and says:
I haven’t run for 26 years, my 13-year-old daughter thinks I’m mad and my wife is wondering what I’m going to attempt next. I believe that as humans we are capable of much more than we give ourselves credit for and I’m interested to find out how far I can go.
Sue is running for Hope House Children’s Hospices in Shropshire and is hoping to raise £10,000 whilst Steve is hoping to raise £6,000 for CKDCF and is one of ten other Virgin Media runners entering this year’s London Marathon. Steve is hoping to organise a relay of the 10 runners to run cross country between the Virgin Media HQ in Hook and the Virgin Mobile HQ in Trowbridge; we’ll be behind you every step of the way Steve.
To follow Sue’s progress catch up on her blog Virgin Marathon Girl and to follow Steve’s marathon miles visit his site Steve on the Run.
You can donate to Hope House at Sue’s Virgin Money Giving page.
Follow @VirginBalloons and @SteveOnTheRun on Twitter and also find us on Facebook.
Good luck Sue and Steve!