Horsington’s father and daughter team Justin and Daisy Liddle are training to compete in the London Marathon on April 24th. As far as we know, this is the first time anyone from the village has competed in this grueling event.
They aim to raise £4,000 for the Spinal Injuries Association, inspired by good friend who suffered a spinal injury.
The Liddles have lived in Horsington for 17 years. You may have seen Justin running around in his bright yellow kit. 18 year old Daisy is tall and athletic, not surprising, since she has represented Great Britain at Biathle, a tough biathlon-type competition. Justin’s approach is more laid back, but he is training hard.
Over the last few months they have both been working to raise Justin’s fitness. Daisy has had to learn to run a little slower while Justin has had to speed up from his normal crawl!
Their training programme has included a Cancer Research UK 10km Winter Run in central London in January. They also did a 10-miler in Bournemouth and the Yeovil half Marathon last weekend, where they both finished in 2:05, a joint personal best.
Every year in the UK over 1,000 people experience a spinal cord injury. There are an estimated 40,000 spinal cord injured people in the UK alone, and the charity aims to help people to rehabilitate and enjoy a full and independent life.
The Team Liddle has already raised £1,500. You can help them meet their target by donating via Team Liddle’s fundraising page at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/teamliddle A donation of any size will help.
You can follow their progress on Twitter (@teamliddle) or “like” their Facebook page (Team Liddle’s London Marathon 2016).
If you would like further information on the Spinal Injuries Association, click here.
The Blog wishes them every success.
Well done, and the very best of luck to the Liddles!
They are not, as you suspect, the first from the village to run in this event. Dr Marc Fellows did when he lived at Springfields (out here on the Marsh). I can’t remember the year . . .