The full Impact team were supporting Boma in the Hackney Half challenge and are so proud of his accomplishment and money raised for such a fantastic cause. Take a read of his blog …
After weeks of collecting money and putting off training till the last minute, Sunday was finally here but with the race starting 5 minutes away from my house, laziness was always going to be a factor. The excitement and energy met you as soon as you entered the park as around 20,000 people were gathered at Hackney Marshes for the Hackney Half with 11,000 of us taking part in the race. The race started with a confetti gun shot by Richard Branson himself and Hackney Half runners flooded the streets as did local residents who came to support us with sweets and high fives to keep us motivated and our spirits high.
Supporters ranged from family, friends and others and I soon discovered their presence was invaluable. The ReachOut team set up a point at mile 3.5 where they energetically cheered us on in the early stages of the race. As the miles went on my calves started to hurt my pace, and my energy began to drop. The support and cheering on I received not only from friends but from strangers really made the difference between how quickly I finished each mile, as soon as someone cheered me on I’d get a boost of energy even though physically I thought I was at my limit.
Sunday was a fantastic day for ReachOut as we were lucky to enough to have over 20 runners take part and we raised well over £10,000 in total! Our runners came from varying groups; former mentees, corporate mentors and university students who all stepped up and took part for ReachOut. Our runners also performed very well in the race, our fastest running time being 1:33 and all our runners finishing within 2:30! Taking into account my poor preparation I was very pleased with my time of 2:10!
The most important achievement is that collectively we raised a lot of money for some truly amazing causes including the ‘Hackney’s Winter Night Shelter’ and the Halley House School parents who ran to raise money for playground equipment for the primary school. I ran for ReachOut because I agree with their ethos that with right amount of support every young person can succeed and meet their true potential; most mentees at the ReachOut mentoring program are from disadvantaged communities and low income families. As a former mentee at ReachOut, attending the program allowed me to take part in the NCS, get valuable work experience and spend a lot of time around inspirational role models. The money from very generous donations from everyone at IMPACT plus family and friends will go to providing more young people with consistent, effective and structured mentoring to give them the opportunity to succeed and have bright and positive futures. ReachOut is now also closer to their goal of being able to double the amount of young people they work with next year!
I’d like to say a massive thank you to everyone who contributed and bring on the 2018 Hackney Half!
