Alexander and Maia are participating in a fundraising race!

Their school are holding a school-wide Sponsored Fun Run, which they are naming the ‘Marathon des Spinfield’, after the World’s Toughest Foot Race, the Marathon des Sables. This is a 250km race run over 7 days in the sand dunes of the Moroccan Saharan Desert over 7 days… and we plan to do the same (sort of!)

For the Marathon des Spinfield, the children will be running around the slightly less hot, but just as competitive setting of the school field! As a school, each class will be given a set distance to aim for, and with the teachers maybe running a lap or two, collectively we aim to achieve the distance of 250km! Something we can all agree would be a huge achievement.

The school has been so lucky as we have been visited by Grace Robinson, a long distance endurance triathlete who has rowed the Atlantic, swam the English Channel Relay, and completed multiple Ironman races, notably the IM World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. Grace has also completed the Marathon des Sables, and in a school assembly where she talked to the students about the race, its highlights and hardships, the school will learn about what it takes to be both physically and mentally strong in an endurance capacity. Grace’s amazing achievements can hopefully inspire the children, and teach them about resilience and determination in the face of adversity.

The funds raised through the sponsorship would go towards Spinfield School Parents' Association's recurring funding of the Forest School, ICT licences, new library books, school renovation and improvement. As a further echo to the fundraising structure of the Marathon Des Sables, which believes that you should support your local communities in need, 10% of the funds raised in our sponsored run will go to a local charity chosen by the members of the Spinfield School Council.