2016 CHALLENGE 366

Twelve months of running for Moira, 111 races amounting to 1000+ kilometres, twelve months of spreading awareness of The Moira Fund and more than £17000 raised to help families devastated by the loss of a loved one through murder.

How do we begin to thank Richard Cooper for his amazing achievement?

Richard, went to school in Stafford with Moira’s brother, Grant, and caught up with him again when he took part in Moira’s Run, an event held annually now in Queen’s Park, Glasgow. That led to Richard, a very keen runner, deciding to “run for Moira” throughout 2016 and he pledged to run 366 miles, one for each day of the year. However, park runs, 5k and 10k runs, half marathons, marathons and ultras soon mounted up and in August Richard reached his original target. He couldn’t sit back then, that’s not in his nature, and so he set a new target, 1000k, and just kept on running.

Throughout he had wonderful support from his immediate family, in particular from his son Kieran, whose running skills were progressing by leaps and bounds and he ran with his dad whenever he was age-eligible. The pair were runners to be reckoned with, earned huge respect and friendship from the running community as well as friends and colleagues and support for them grew and grew.

 Richard’s blog and photos after each race became a must-read.

Richard’s employers announced that they would match all sponsorship money raised by Richard.

Local newspapers wanted the story.

Running magazines wanted the story.

 It’s an amazing story, a fantastic achievement.

Thank you Richard for your dedication and determination to help The Moira Fund. We appreciate every single step you took and we are so grateful to all who supported you in your efforts and whose generosity, like your running, knew no bounds.

Richard’s last run for Moira was on 31^st December 2016.  His official running total 1007 K. His sponsorship, without matching, is £8000+ and it’s not too late to sponsor Richard.

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