Olivia Ditcham

First and foremost I am running for a fantastic cause ‘The Lord Taverners’ charity, the UK’s leading youth cricket and disability sports charity with the aim ‘to give young people a sporting chance’. The Taverners provide inclusive and impactful cricket programmes, empowering young people with disabilities and from disadvantaged communities to develop the knowledge, skills, capabilities and confidence required to overcome the challenges of inequality, raise their aspirations and reach their potential. More information can be found below – please do take a look at the fantastic work they do.

lordstaverners.org/how-we-help/our-impact#WhatWeDo

I am both thrilled and nervous to be running my first London marathon on October 2nd! I’ve dabbled with running for a long time, however never quite pushed myself beyond the 5K mark or stop-start approach. During lockdown, I started a weekly ritual of running ‘7 miles at 7am’ with my Dad around Richmond Park mainly to keep sane and healthy in a trying time. My dad is a long-time supporter of the Taverners and remarkably this year is due to be his 15th London Marathon. It has long been the wish of my dad for us to run a marathon together and after many years of putting it off I decided that this is the year I must finally take the plunge.

Our training together has been somewhat disrupted by injuries over the last 6 months, however we continue to persevere to run the entire race, one step (or hobble!) at a time. With less than a month to go, I would be extremely grateful for any donation towards my goal and to support the Lord Taverners in the incredible work that they do.

Thank you - hopefully see you on the other side of the finish line!

Olivia x