Published at 15:39, Wednesday, 21 July 2010

AS more than 500 runners braved Sunday’s rain to take part in the inaugural West Cumbrian Run, the widow of PC Bill Barker said her husband would have been proud of them all.

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The run, from Cockermouth to Workington, was organised by GB Event Management in memory of PC Barker and in aid of his favourite charity, the Great North Air Ambulance Service.

Some entrants were running club members seeking to achieve a good time on the 10-mile route, while others were out to raise as much money as they could for the charity.

There were those with personal reasons to remember the floods which claimed the hero policeman’s life, such as John Stryczek of Milton Keynes, whose mother-in-law Doris Ashton was flooded out of her Derwentside Gardens home in Cockermouth and has only just moved back.

Then there were the participants who stood out from the crowd, such as Cockermouth duo Stefan Wise and James Pattinson, who decided to don full-body Morph suits in the hope of raising extra money for the charity.

After registering at Cockermouth Leisure Centre, the runners gathered at the starting line on Main Street, where PC Barker’s wife Hazel gave an emotional account of how the new road race had grown out of the tragedy of the floods.

The couple’s son and daughter Simon and Melissa, who had held a banner at the start line, moved aside and the runners set off towards Papcastle, Broughton, Camerton and Seaton, heading for Workington’s cricket ground, where the Barkers’ other children, Daniel and Emma Louise, held a finishing banner.

The first man in was Paul Curtis, 37, of Gosforth’s Blengdale Runners, in 57m 16s, followed by Tim Stedman, 35, of Wharfedale Harriers in 57m 36s, and Tony Thompson, 32, of Workington, in 58m 58s.

The first woman was Sarah Bailey, 33, of Keswick Athletics Club, who came home in 1hr 11m 52s.

The first man and first woman, along with the first male and female police officers, Nick Brown (1hr 9m 0s) and Yvie Johnson (1hr 14m 43s), both of North Wales Police, each won a double bed donated by Sealy, one of the race sponsors.

Mr Stedman and Mr Thompson each won vouchers towards the cost of a Sealy bed.

Sealy’s marketing manager Neil Robinson said: “We are very pleased to be involved today and to help support the Great North Air Ambulance.”

The main race sponsor was the Asda Foundation and as well as being presented with a medal bearing a picture of PC Barker, each runner received an Asda goody bag and some samples of the supermarket’s food.

As the runners continued to come in, Mrs Barker said: “The West Cumbrian Run just means everything to us. Bill would have been loving every minute of it. We are never going to be able to thank people enough. I know Bill will have been proud of everybody.”

Jan Hawkins, chairman of the Friends of the Pride of Cumbria Air Ambulance, the county’s helicopter operated by the Great North Air Ambulance Service, said: “It’s been a much better turnout than we expected. I can’t say a big enough thank you to all the people who have taken part today.”

She added that £100,000, the fundraising target of the run, would cover the helicopter’s flying costs for a month.

Race director Mike James said: “It’s been an extreme success, evening with the weather. We have built the platform for future years and it’s a great cause. Time will tell whether we can get close to raising the £100,000.”

The other race sponsors were the Times & Star, Stagecoach Cumbria, Amcor, James Walker & Co, Amey, Chojinkai Karate, Cumbria County Council, Costa Coffee, Cumbria Sport Partnership, Tiffen & Co, New Balance, Lloyd Motors, Cumbria Constabulary and Auction House Cumbria.

Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk