Mighty Marathon

Posted at 9:59 am on 14th October, 2021

At Flixton Girls School (FGS) we love to celebrate the successes of both our students and staff members, particular when they push their own boundaries in the pursuit of altruism.

Ms Perkin, Head of Humanities has shown aspirational and empowering qualities when she chose to reach outside of her own comfort zone and enter the London Marathon. Having only ever run a “10k” over 3 years ago, the decision to apply for the London Marathon came as almost a whim!

Ms Perkin said, ‘At the time of applying I was awaiting physiotherapy on an ankle injury and wasn’t doing any running at all! In fact, the most I'd ever ran was the Manchester 10k 3 years ago!’.

She wasn’t to be deterred and began training in February. However, it wasn’t all plain sailing as a knee injury meant her training was put on hold for two months. Ms Perkin didn’t allow this set back to define the outcome, and resumed her training in May.

She comments, ‘I am absolutely not a natural runner and received a diagnosis of asthma over the summer break, which meant reassessing my training schedule. But by splitting my runs into manageable chunks, having some music on and knowing the money is going to a great charity all provided me with the best motivation!

The Stroke Association is the UKs leading charity dedicated to conquering stroke, providing much-needed support to around 60,000 stroke survivors and their families each year. My gran experienced a stroke in 2017. A stroke is sudden and devastating, striking every five minutes in the UK.  It can take away your speech, your ability to walk, your memory and your independence.

After months of struggling on her own, my gran was placed in a nursing home. In December 2020, suffering from complications including coronavirus, she passed away. So I’m running for her and this charity for their continuing work conducting research into preventing strokes and the rehabilitation and adjustment for survivors and their loved ones.’

Ms Perkin has currently raised £850, which is well above her target. She said, ‘The whole day was fantastic, I felt euphoric running with a crowd and people calling my name really spurred me on to complete the run in 5 hours 35mins. Thanks for everyone’s support and donations.’ Her Virgin Money Giving page can be accessed by clicking the link.