On Saturday 7th September, members of the Ben Rhydding Primary School community will be coming together to raise money for Candlelighters under the ‘Team Jessie’ banner. First to start will be 12 brave (foolish?) runners who are attempting to run a challenging 26.2 mile Ilkley Skyline Marathon, before upwards of 50 children aim to complete a 2.62 km Riverside Gardens Challenge fun run.

Team Jessie:

All the runners are proudly raising money for Candlelighters under the Team Jessie banner. On Christmas Eve 2019, Jessie, then just 3.5 yrs old, was diagnosed with a brain tumour and rushed to the Leeds Children’s Hospital for emergency brain surgery. Three weeks and a further 11hr operation later, she was finally discharged from hospital, but with an appointment the following week to commence an initial 21 month chemotherapy regime. Despite undergoing regular chemo in hospital, having to deal with the associated side effects, still being fed via a NG tube, and having to navigate the added pressures of the pandemic, Jessie started her Reception year at Ben Rhydding Primary School in Sept 2020. Over the subsequent 4.5 years since her diagnosis, Jessie has been on active chemotherapy for 40 months – but she hasn’t let it stop her thriving in and out of school. Jessie’s journey with her cancer will have lots more twists and turns over the years ahead, but throughout it all Jessie, and her family, have been lucky enough to be supported by the most incredible medical professionals and charities.

Candlelighters is the local charity that supports families of children with cancer in Yorkshire. Their mission is to bring light to families by providing emotional, practical and financial support, and hope, by investing in vital research to improve the outcomes and lives of children with cancer. Please help Team Jessie raise as much money as we can for this wonderful charity so they can continue to provide families like Jessie’s with much needed support.

The Events:

The Ilkley Skyline Marathon will be a tough, off-road, hilly route, encompassing over 1,100m of ascent over a full marathon distance. Starting at the Hermit pub in Burley Woodhead, the runners will take in the summits along Burley Moor, Ilkley Moor and Rombalds Moor, before dropping down into Addingham to cross the River Wharfe. Once on the northern bank, a relentless climb will bring us up to Beamsley Beacon, before we follow the tops to Round Hill and on to Lippersley Pike. Descending down through Asquith, we’ll cross the River Wharfe for a second time at the Burley Stepping Stones before making the long slog back up to the Hermit to complete the regular 22 mile Ilkley Skyline route. But this won’t be the end, as we’ll then head back towards Ilkley via the Cow & Calf rocks and Ilkley Tarn, before dropping steeply down to our finish by the banks of the River Wharfe at the Riverside Gardens in the centre of Ilkley.

Not content to let the parents have all the fun, a large group of current, past and future Ben Rhydding Primary School pupils are also undertaking their own fundraising challenge as they tackle a 2.62km fun run around the Riverside Gardens to raise vital funds for this wonderful, Yorkshire-based, charity.

Marathoners: Kyle Langenegger, Lou McCallion, Andy McCallion, Andy Clegg, Bex Brown, Kirsty Hambleton, Sam Bagshaw, Robin Moffatt, Dan Birks, Rob Sturman, Ruth Ormrod, Robert Ormrod

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