In September, Amy, Jess, Charlotte, Sophie, Sophie and Gillian will be running the Great North Run, the world’s biggest half marathon, in Newcastle upon Tyne. Between the 6 of us we probably have a combined  competitive racing experience of 50k and therefore this is not going to be an easy task!

The reason we have decided to undertake this challenge is that on 19^th January 2013 our housemate, Una, from our time at Newcastle university, died in the worst avalanche accident there has been in the UK for many years. Una was 25 years old and had just finished her medical degree. She was out hiking in the Glencoe mountains with five friends. The whole group were experienced at mountaineering but the conditions were such that four of the group of six were killed in the avalanche and one suffered life threatening injuries.

The charities we have chosen to run for in Una’s memory are:

Teesdale and Weardale Search and Mountain Rescue Team is run by volunteers and provides a search and rescue service for the whole of County Durham. Given Una died in a mountaineering accident we wanted to choose a charity that will help others who get into difficulties while hiking and hopefully save lives. County Durham is near Newcastle where we all lived and where Una used to hike during our time at university.

The Karen Hilltribes Trust is a charity working in northern Thailand to help the Karen people build a better future. Una spent time working with this charity and it was close to her heart.

If we had told Una 8 years ago, when we all first met, she would never have believed that we would be spending time in Newcastle running a half marathon rather than drinking on Osborne Road! By some miracle we have all agreed to do this and would appreciate any donation you can give!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.