London Marathon

This year two members of staff, Miss Tredgett, who teaches Year 4 and Mr Hutchinson, who teaches Year 5, will be taking part in the London Marathon on 21 April.  This is an incredible achievement to be training and coming into school on a daily basis. 

Miss Tredgett has previously run the London Marathon on 3 occasions, as well as Manchester and Edinburgh full marathons and other half-marathons. Last year, she completed the marathon in 3 hours 26 minutes - a personal best.

“Training is well underway and the early morning runs have begun! At the moment, I am running 6 days a week. Some runs are at 5.00 am before school and some are in the evening. Mr Hutchinson and I both run in the same running club, and we are hoping to complete some of our long training runs together, so it is not as lonely (he keeps me entertained with his bad jokes). I am hoping to achieve another personal best and raise lots of money for our City Farm, where the children regularly visit to take care of the animals and have horse-riding lessons.”

Quotes from children in 4A:

‘I would really like to see how fast she can run’

‘I think she will need a break after she has run the Marathon!’

Mr Hutchinson is a regular runner at Gloucester Park Run and has previously completed a full marathon and two Ultra Marathons. He is also aiming for a personal best.

“My training is going well. I have got my new marathon trainers ready and am wearing them in.”

Quotes from his class:

‘We want to encourage him to run the London Marathon.  We are supporting his training but hoping he still has enough energy to teach us.’

‘He is teaching us a good lesson about working towards a goal’

‘We are going to watch on Sunday 21^st and will be shouting ‘Go Mr Hutchinson! at the TV’

As a very diverse school, we are tracking the training miles they cover and thinking about where in the world it would take you.  By week 3 they had collectively run 258 miles. The children have used maps and maths to work out whether they have run enough miles to get to Paris, France!

As a school we will be raising money for the City Farm* which is opposite our school. The children benefit greatly from the riding lessons as well as being able to visit on their way home.

“There are no other words for it; they are inspirational! Dedicated teachers, wonderful team players and exceptional athletes. They run before school when we’re all still in bed and after school when we’re all having our dinner. True dedication – especially through the winter months. Everyone here at St James is extremely proud of them and wishes them well in finishing the race and maybe even getting a PB time!”

Mrs Gardiner, Operational Headteacher.

If you would like to donate to this great cause, here is the just giving page: Just Giving Page

*If the City Farm remains closed, the School Council will decide on a new charity.