The big day has come and gone - and what a fantastic day we had.  Belfast was buzzing!  As Lynne & I were getting the bus (front seat, double decker) to our appointed changeover zone on Monday morning, it was lovely to travel through the city & watch people preparing for the race. We both felt so privileged to be part of our 'home' event & to be running for such a good cause.  I must say that emotions were running high.

Our race break down is as follows:

Frazer - 6 miles - 1 hour 3 minutes

Russ - 3.5 miles - 27 minutes

Claire - 7.1 miles - 1 hour 1 minute (&30secs!)

Ian - 5.3 miles - 35 minutes

Lynne - 4.1 miles - 47 minutes

We finished in 424th place (out of 2200 teams) with an overall time of 3 hours 54mins & 28 secs. 

Lynne & I would love to be able to thank everyone personally for donating money in memory of our mum - however there are so many of you that it would be impossible.  We would just like you to know that we all tried our best, ran with our hearts as well as our legs & definitely with mum beside us every step of the way.  We are so proud of ourselves & I think mum would be too.

Thanx again for your support

Claire & Lynne xx

Little did we know that 2 days later mum was to have a fatal stroke which ended her life and life as we knew it.  Even writing this, I still cannot come to terms with the fact that Lynne & I have lost our mum, Connor has lost his granny, Russell & Ian have lost their MIL.  Many more people have lost a dear friend with a wicked sense of humour, a deep sense of loyalty & an innate love of shopping.  Mum was many things to many people & she will be hugely missed. 

Team EAG (Elizabeth Anne Graham) was conceived in February when Lynne & I decided we should do something in mum's memory & also raise money for people who have been debilitated by strokes. 

The Stroke Association Northern Ireland is a community based charity, providing vital, professionally led services such as speech and language therapy, family and carer support, training, information and advice to stroke survivors and people living with aphasia, their carers and families right across Northern Ireland.  It is the only dedicated stroke charity in Northern Ireland.

Our big event will be the Belfast Marathon on Monday 3rd May 2010.  Not all 26 miles though.  Team EAG is made up of 5 individuals (with a couple of reserves & a team mascot) who will divide the 26 miles up between them. We are:

Claire Duffin

Lynne Collie

Ian Duffin

Russell Collie

Fraser Collie

Shane Duncan & Andrea Bingham have kindly offered to step in if required.

Connor Duffin is our team mascot & will be there to provide much needed hugs & kisses at the end of the race!

 

Many thanks for visiting our JustGiving page & we hope you will support us in remembering our mum & in reaching our target.