East Lancashire Hospice

Running in Pairs

Elisabeth Devey originally was asked to run the London Marathon with her friend, but unfortunately, her friend cannot run due to ill health. True to style, Elisabeth, from Rishton has decided to complete the run raising money for her friends’ chosen charity – East Lancashire Hospice.

“I didn’t plan to do it for charity, as I have raised money for other charities in the past, but I knew how important East Lancashire Hospice was to my friend.”

A student midwife whilst still working as a Paediatric Phlebotomist at Blackburn Hospital, Elisabeth, age 41 fits in her training with her family and studying. Married to Gareth, with sons Anderson (11) and Grayson (10), Elisabeth’s longest run to date has been 17 miles. During training, Elisabeth has the full support from her family, with Gaz collecting her after her long runs. The whole family ‘Ran The Lights’ last year in Blackpool, with the boys running the 5k and Elisabeth 10k!

Grayson is only 10, he ran 7.5k when he was 6 and next on the list is a 10k with his mum!

Whilst Elisabeth does not think of herself as a runner, she has still managed to complete two Birmingham half marathons, two Manchester half marathons and the Disney Marathon in 2015.

“I am really not a runner,” Elisabeth confessed, “I started running 8 years ago for charity when my best friend became very poorly, people thought I was crazy, I was 17 stone and couldn’t even run a bath! Over the years I have dipped in and out of running to keep up some kind of fitness.  When I ran the Disney marathon, I had a knee injury which meant I couldn’t achieve the training miles I desired and ended up running/walking it.  The challenge this time will be to run the whole marathon!”

Purely by chance Elisabeth realised she had recently met Mary Pomfret, our volunteer and regular marathon runner, at a friends’ house. Mary is also taking part in the London Marathon for the hospice.

“She and I got chatting, we had a lot in common, and we even spoke about both being runners.”  Elisabeth is hoping to catch up with Mary before they head down to London on April 23rd.

To support Elisabeth visit her Just Giving Page Elisabeth Devey is fundraising for The East Lancashire Hospice (justgiving.­com)

Are you running the London Marathon with East Lancashire Hospice in mind? Call 01254 965875 to see how we can support you to raise funds for patient care.

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