News

Friends don trainers to run British 10k for KOP

Owain Evans (one of the founding members of KOP) is one of my oldest friends as we met in school back in 1991. I was humbled to hear, during his recent wedding celebrations, about the success of the Kenyan Orphan Project and the fantastic effort during KOP’s ‘Making Tracks’ expedition. I knew that we had an opportunity to make our own contribution to this great cause. Two of us had been to Kenya and seen the hardship, poverty and immense day to day challenges faced by the families of this amazing country and therefore it made selecting the Kenyan Orphan Project all the more close to our hearts as a charity to support.

With an early rise we set off to London and to the course starting point along with over 25,000 other participants. The route runs through the heart of the capital and takes runners past many of the iconic and most world-renowned sights. The course starts at Green Park, runners pass Trafalgar Square until joining the River Thames at Embankment. Continuing along the north bank to the Millennium Bridge you double-back and return along the river, crossing the length of Westminster Bridge and back before giving every last drop of energy running past the Cenotaph to the finish.

Regrouping back in Trafalgar Square we all exchanged stories about the trials and tribulations of our efforts. We all completed the run, not in our fastest times due to the sheer number of people on the course, however it was incredible to see so many people all working hard supporting their chosen charities. Feeling really good about our fundraising achievements for KOP we decided to celebrate our efforts, back where the whole idea started, in a pub over a nice cold pint.