At ELoH we are very proud of our four Parallel London runners – Julie, Kat, Randy and Izzy – who ran Parallel London for us on the 3rd September!
Parallel London is the world’s first fully inclusive mass participation event. It brings together people of all abilities to race side by side at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London. At ELoH we’re very excited to have taken part in this year’s event which, so far, has raised over £500 for child amputees.
Team ELoH
Our fantastic team included Julie Marsh, Kathryn Sizer, Randolph Brazier and Isabelle Trick.
Julie and Kat both work with amputees in the UK and were inspired to use their platform to support child amputees in less developed countries – who often lack access to the most basic of services, including prosthetics and education.
Julie is a Solicitor specialising in amputee claims at the law firm Boyes Turner, and Kat works for amputee service provider PACE Rehabilitation, that previously has supported ELoH. In the run-up to Parallel London, they both focused on raising awareness about ELoH at their workplaces and among their followers.
They were joined by ELoH supporter Randy and ELoH Manager Izzy. Together, they set up a joint fundraising page to raise money towards ELoH’s projects (if you’d like to contribute it’s not too late – here’s the link).
The race
Parallel London is a very special event. It’s truly inclusive with people of all abilities taking part: people on their own two legs, people in wheelchairs, with walking frames, with crutches, and on running blades or normal prosthetics.
Before the races (10km, 5km, 1km and super sensory 1km) participants did group warm-ups, jumping and laughing and waving their arms around. Everyone was in a great mood and the weather conditions were perfect. Our runners particularly enjoyed running through the Olympic Park, and in the final stretch they were cheered by an amazing crowd of people.
After the event, Julie said: “It was an amazing day and what kept me running was being able to run alongside so many brave and inspiring people. It was great to take part and raise awareness of ELoH and disabled sport for all.”
Izzy said: “I’m not really a runner, so Parallel London was the perfect event: it’s all about fun and inclusivity and just making it around the course, no matter what. You run alongside people of all abilities and ages and it is a brilliantly supportive atmosphere and very, very inspiring! I think it was because of that atmosphere that I managed to run my first ever 10k – and still have a big smile on my face at the end of it, despite being absolutely knackered.”
And much more
Parallel London is not just a race – it’s a full day celebration of people of all abilities. After the race, Julie, Kat, Randy and Izzy enjoyed a free festival with plenty of activities to raise awareness about disability and promote inclusiveness. They included meeting differently abled people, trying out sports such as sitting down volleyball, and trying different assistive devises.
Randy said: “I really enjoyed the race and it was great to see such a wide range of people participating together. This sort of event is fantastic not only for raising awareness but for encouraging diversity and inclusiveness in society!”
At ELoH we would like to send a big thank you to our runners, who helped raise the profile and some money for child amputees in developing countries. Thanks to you, more child amputees will be able to walk and go to school!
Do you want to take part?
After this year’s success, ELoH is looking to bring together a team for the 2018 Parallel London. If you, your friends or colleagues are interested, email Emilie on emilie(at)elizabethslegacyofhope.org.
You can also find out about other challenges, including cycling, trekking and overseas events, on our website: www.elizabethslegacyofhope.org/challenge-events/