HOLMES Chapel and Knutsford friends of Sarah Williams joined her and her family for their version of The Great North Run on Sunday.
Sarah, from Middlewich, and her family were due to take part in the famous half marathon at Newcastle upon Tyne on Sunday in memory of Sarah’s husband Robert.
The event was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic, but Sarah was determined to do something to mark the day, and organised The Great Robster Run around Holmes Chapel and Bradwall.
A total of 19 people took part in the half marathon, which took place between 9am and 1pm and took the total raised by Team Robster for The Brain Tumour Charity to more than £40,000.
Robert died on January 2 at the age of 44, 15 months on from being diagnosed with an inoperable and incurable brain tumour.
The support given by the charity to Robert, his wife Sarah and their three children inspired the creation of Team Robster, which has raised money for the charity since 2018.
Sarah said: “Following the success of our 2019 Great North Run Team, this year we had an even bigger team registered to run again. Unfortunately like many other events it was sadly cancelled.
Sarah Williams, left, and Laura Middlebrook cross the finishing line
“However we weren’t deterred, and Sunday’s circular route covered the area where Robert grew up, went to school and lived all his life.
“The half marathon took our total fundraising for the year to over £8,000, which is phenomenal, and the support for Robert and the person he was is just amazing.
“Cranage Village Hall lent us their outdoor facilities for the day, and we stuck to guidelines and made sure that we were socially distanced.
“We started from the village hall, and did a figure of eight around Bradwall and the outskirts of Holmes Chapel before finishing back at the hall.
“We set of in waves of bubbles of no more than six people, and the fastest was Billy Lord, who celebrated his 17th birthday last weekend.
“It was a lovely, positive day, which Rob was always about. He would have been 45 on July 25, and we would like our overall target to have reached £45,000 by Christmas.”
Two friends of Sarah from Windsor, who were due to take part in the Great North Run, did their own run virtually. The Robster Walk is being planned for Sunday, October 18 to boost the total.
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