A DETERMINED Redditch teacher has beaten her fear of running and completed a 10km run in aid of a children’s charity.
Grace Rogerson, who teaches at Roman Way First School, set herself the challenge of running 10km for children’s bereavement charity Touchstones and has surprised herself and surpassed her target, raising more than £400.
On Saturday Grace took on the 10K in Hereford and, despite her reservations about running, successfully finished the race.
She said: “I definitely still don’t enjoy running, but it was a big achievement. Three months ago I never thought it would be possible to run 10km.
“It was a huge personal challenge because I was the child at school who got mocked for being second to last in cross country and got detention for refusing to do 1,500m.
“I am blown away by how much I’ve managed tor raise for such an amazing cause.”
Grace, from Worcester, trained three times a week to prepare for the race, increasing the duration each time until she was strong enough to go for the Hereford 10K.
The 24-year-old said: “The difficulty I faced, putting one foot in front of another, is nothing compared to the difficulty these young people face moving through one day after another. I am humbled by their strength.
“Working as a teacher, I see from a professional angle how youngsters can be devastatingly effected by loss in their lives and know how important having the right support is to enable them to flourish and move forward.
“Touchstones is an amazing charity doing amazing things for young people.”
Touchstones works locally in Worcestershire to support bereaved young people, encouraging them to socialise and learn to have fun again.
Visit http://bit.ly/2feUsiE to show your support.
