School teacher Belinda Neild has had an unusual bid accepted by the Guinness Book of Records, to smash a world record by attempting to run a marathon dressed as an item of stationary. Not only that, she intends to do it in less than four hours.
Hailing from Swinton, art teacher Belinda has elected to run the 26 miles plus dressed as a Crayola Crayon. Why a crayon?
"I'm an art teacher at Fred Longworth High School in Greater Manchester, so I felt the outfit suited" she explains "The outfit will make it harder running the 26 miles with leg width restrictions."
Belinda is a dedicated and experienced runner and has previously raised an impressive £7,350 for St Ann's Hospice. This year, Belinda will be running the London Marathon on 28th April for Ava's Wish and Histio UK.
Ava's Wish was set up to provide support for an incredible child. Ava is a little girl who faces many challenges on a daily basis..."Ava has quadriplegic cerebral palsy, a condition that affects the whole body" says Belinda "She suffers from chronic lung disease as well as a chronic bowel condition. She has feeding difficulties as she struggles to swallow. Ava's food and drinks have to be made thicker so no fluid can go on her lungs."
Ava also needs constant physiotherapy which the NHS can only support once a week... "Aside from all Ava's problems she's an amazing little girl with the biggest smile" she adds "I hope to raise as much money as I can to make life easier for them."
Belinda will also be running to raise awareness of HLH and support Histio UK, a great charity that provides support for parents as well as helping to fund research into the disease. Belinda tells about her involvement...
"Layla Mae Jamieson was a beautiful happy, healthy and active six year old who loved music and performing" she explains "On the 18th December our friends Michelle and Paul Jameson sadly lost their daughter Layla Mae to an extremely rare immunodeficiency blood disease called Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytososis (HLH). 1.2 per million children affected each year by this disease, and doctors know very little about it.
"This is the reason why I need to raise as much money as I can in support of this charity" she adds "I will be raising money to help fund the research needed to uncover the causes of HLH, diagnose early and hopefully finding a cure. I hope that no other parent has to go through what Michelle, Paul and their family went through."
Belinda has been training six days a week with B military fitness at Heaton Park and Salford Mets. You can help to support her hard work, and raise money and awareness for two great charities – click here for details.
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