STRATFORD Badminton Club members capped a great season by raising £3,600 for Parkinson’s UK thanks to their efforts at the Shakespeare Marathon & Half Marathon.
It was an important occasion for the badminton players, who ran to support their friend and keen player Martin Kenny, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s more than five years ago.
Although Parkinson’s restricts movement, a combination of drugs and determination sees Martin refusing to hang up his racket. In that spirit, the club set itself the challenge of running a half marathon and trying to raise £3,000 for the charity – a goal they managed to surpass.
Several of the runners had never completed the distance before and some were new to running, so training schedules were made and cold weather was braved in preparation for the day itself.
All team members crossed the finishing line to much support and put in some impressive times to boot, the fastest of which was Tom Burdett in one hour, 36 minutes.
The Stratford BC team featured Burdett, Ed and Will Telfer, James Savin, Miguel Fernandez, Sarah Marshall, Tim Napper, James Parry, Kevin McCarthy and Henry Morrison.
The event rounds off a great season for the club, who have won three of the four men’s divisions in the Leamington League, as well as the ladies’ division.
Stratford were also runners-up in the mixed division and bagged wins in the mixed and men’s tournaments.
More club members are planning to compete in next year’s half marathon in a bid to beat this year’s fund-raising total.
Anyone interested in joining Stratford Badminton Club can visit stratfordbadminton.org.uk for more details.
