On Sunday 21st May, twenty Rollright pupils and their grown-ups donned their trainers and got running at the Blenheim Palace Fun Run to raise part of a whopping £6,000 to pay for fantastic new playground equipment at Great Rollright School.
The sun shone and the atmosphere was energised as runners and supporters gathered together and a group of drummers struck up a rousing beat. After a lively warm-up, the children were ready to run. They all completed their mile, with Poppy whizzing off like greased lightening, Laura and Lacey holding hands the whole way round, and Daisy and Charlie pushing through stitches to make it to the end. We felt so proud of the determination shown by the children and their good sportsmanship as, having collected their medals, they stayed to clap and cheer fellow runners over the finish line. They all did themselves and the school proud.
Then came the 7.4K. Our seven adult runners enjoyed/endured an undulating route winding its way over the Grand Bridge, then skirting the lake past the ‘Harry Potter Tree’ (featured in the 2007 Order of the Phoenix film), before re-joining the main path around the Palace Grounds. We felt very proud of all the runners who pushed themselves to complete the run on this beautiful but hot day, not least for Tim Pegg whose speedy 31:29 race time blew us all away.
On behalf of the ‘Rollright Runners’, the Friends of Great Rollright team wish to thank everyone who supported us through this event: with goody bags supplied by Better Leisure Centre, a sweet treat from Chippy Larder, homemade flapjacks and banana cake, donated drinks and supporters cheering us on, we are so grateful. Also, massive thanks to everyone who sponsored us. You have helped us surpass all expectation and have so far raised over £1,700 for the playground with money still coming in.
Playground equipment is essential to the physical development of pupils, and physical activity during playtime helps children to settle and focus on their classroom learning. Stretching, climbing and balancing improve strength and spatial awareness, plus these gross motor skills help develop fine motor skills which assist with tasks like writing. We are thrilled and grateful for your support and, for those still wishing to contribute, you can find our Just Giving page here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rollrightrunners
Congratulations to our runners:
Freddie, Matthew and Laura, Daisy and Poppy, Blake, Charlie, Isaac, Lottie, Isobel and Harry, Zara, Walter and Monty, Lacey, Otto and Atti, Madeleine, Alba and Jonas. Also to Tessa and Frankie who were unable to run on the day due to illness, but who were an important part of our fundraising team.
