16 March 2018
Miracle Marathon Effort for Methodist charity
This year, experience meets optimism as two very differentrunners take on the London Marathon for the Methodist Relief andDevelopment Fund (MRDF). However different, both runners have thesame aim: to help make 'small miracles' possible in some world'spoorest countries.
MRDF's first runner is an expert: Jim Parrish, member of BaildonMethodist Church in West Yorkshire will be running his 10thmarathon this year. Jim says: 'I've promised my wife this will bethe last one. At the age of 70 she thinks it's time I retired fromrunning. I'm aiming to complete the course within 5 hours and toshow everyone on 22 April that experience goes a long way!'
In contrast, Val Lovett will be running her first marathon thisyear. She is optimistic that she'll stay the course, but explains:'No one who knows me would expect me to be running this marathonand I have found the training pretty taxing.'
Val works for MAYC, which supports activities for young people inthe Methodist Church, and is running to improve opportunities foryoung people in some of the world's poorest countries. 'With themoney that I raise, MRDF will help children and young people toachieve things that we often take for granted in the UK: attendingschool, staying healthy and learning the skills that they need toflourish in the future.'
Jim, who worked for 30 years in Africa, is raising money throughMRDF to help people living with HIV/AIDS in Malawi. The money thathe raises will enable orphaned and unemployed young people tosupport themselves through keeping cows and chickens.
Both runners are still looking for sponsors and can be sponsoredvia