From lunch hour running to trail marathon – property manager takes on charity run for Ukraine

Helen Corban, 48, Property Manager at Bradford Estates, is taking part in the Shropshire Way 80k Festival 2022 which is being held in the Shropshire Hills this weekend.

The festival is sponsored by Airband and features three events, an 80k walk over a 24-hour period, a Mammothon – a full distance trail marathon – and a Half Mammothon over 13 miles.

Helen has set up a GoFundMe page and is hoping people will support her in her challenge by making a donation to help the people of Ukraine.

“I signed up for the 80k walk originally but was poorly earlier in the year so opted to do the Mammothon instead,” she said. “The 80K would have been huge for me but would also have meant a lot more training so I thought it best to lower my sights a little and take on the Mammathon.

“I’ve done half marathons before but never a full marathon. This is a trail marathon, a walk/run challenge where the route isn’t marked so it’s compulsory for us to carry a map, compass and whistle.

“I’m a regular runner and people often see me out in the lanes on Bradford Estates, running a couple of miles in my lunch hour - but this will be a little different.”

Helen, who lives in Great Haywood, Staffordshire, has worked at Bradford Estates for three years and is responsible for residential and commercial lettings along with arranging grazing agreements.

Bradford Estates are long-term custodians of 12,000 acres of managed farmland, woodlands and wetlands across the Shropshire and Staffordshire borders.

“I’ll be doing the Mammothon with my friend Rebecca Clarke,” Helen added. “She lost her father fairly recently and will be raising money for St Giles Hospice while I will be supporting the British Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal.

“We’ve not done anything like this before and I thought that if I was going to be pushing myself outside of my normal comfort zone, then I ought to do it for charity and Ukraine just felt like the right one with what that country and its people are going through at the moment.

“The war is a situation which I think is galvanising people into doing something to help – even people who may not normally get involved too much with fundraising themselves.

“Many are suffering and I hope people will support me on Saturday by visiting my GoFundMe page and donating whatever they feel they can afford. It’s a real disaster and it seems right to try and do something to help the people of Ukraine.”

To donate, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/shropshire-80k-Festival-Marathon