Marathon effort for biker’s widow

THE widow of motorcycling champion Darran Lindsay has set herself a challenge to run numerous marathons with a close friend to raise money for charity.
By The Newsroom
Published 2nd Mar 2013, 13:58 BST

Kerry Lindsay from Dundrod and Claire McKee from Ballinderry, met and became friends on their first day of starting Wallace High School in 1987. Kerry has been running on and off since 2006 and to date has completed 12 marathons and fourhalf marathons, including London Flora marathon in 2007. Originally Kerry completed the runs to raise money in memory of her late husband.

Just recently Claire has started running and has come to thoroughly enjoy it. She can be seen regularly running around Ballinderry. Claire mentioned to Kerry one day when they were out running, that she would consider doing a half marathon, if Kerry would join her. By the end of the run the pair decided to set themselves a challenge of taking part in six half marathons and a full marathon between March and October.

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Kerry said: “Claire just started running last August to lose weight and six stone lighter she feels like a different person with bags of energy and motivation. She has caught the running bug and after we did a run together we decided to give ourselves a challenge this summer.”

The ladies decided to run for Diabetes UK as their friend, Gillian Lunn, also from Lisburn, works for the Charity.

Gillian said: “Given that Northern Ireland has the smallest population of all the other UK nations, these statistics are very worrying and we must take urgent steps to ensure that they don’t continue to escalate further. Diabetes is a rising challenge within our health service and it is vital that an effective strategy is put in place to ensure we do not see a similar increase in the next five years.”

She added: “Diabetes and its complications are putting a huge strain on resources within our health service and as cuts continue to be made across all Trusts, the multi-disciplinary teams treating diabetes are becoming increasingly less equipped to meet the demand of patients and provide the necessary education for effective self-management.’”

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here will be a fundraising evening in the Ballymac Hotel on Saturday March 15 with proceeds from the night, going to Diabetes UK. Entrance £5. Raffle and DJ Jazzy Joe.

If you would like to donate to Kerry and Claire, please do so by going to their Just Giving Page at: Justgiving.com/Claire-McKee

Kerry and Claire would like to thank you in advance for your support for this event and the marathons.

For more information on diabetes and the work done by Diabetes UK, please visit www.diabetes.co.uk/northernireland or phone 02890666646