George’s Smiles Saturday 19th June by Mark Riches

Two year old George Ward was born with Crouzon Syndrome, which means that the bones in his head fuse quicker than normal. He needs a few major operations to correct it so he can lead a regular life

Since George was born, he has been in hospital over 100 days & had 12 operations – he is a very brave boy!

George’s parents are raising funds to help the accommodation block created especially for parents of sick children at Alder Hey hospital

Sarah Lucas of Leigh Harriers was the driving force behind this the first George’s Smiles race, which started & finished at the large playing fields at Pennington Flash.

Ray Taylor & Clare Unsworth championed the race at A&T & they were joined on the day by Shaun Moran, Suzanne Gregory, Joanne Riches, Alan Hilton, David Crowe & me (Mark Riches)

There was a 3 mile run & 1 mile fun run / walk. Those doing the 1 mile just did the first lap & the rest of us went round 3 times!

After approximately 10 – 15 minutes delay, due to the demand for numbers on the day we were off. Alan set off extremely quickly & as Shaun had said he was taking it steady due to racing the Freckleton Half the day after, I thought I had better go with Alan. We went through the first mile in 05:38 & I sensed that this was too quick! Despite what he said, Shaun was right on my shoulder & half way round the second lap he pushed on. Going into the final lap, Alan dropped off the pace & I tried desperately hard to stay with Shaun but to no avail & Shaun went on to win the race in around 17:10 (not seen any official results – sorry.) I finished 2nd in 17:30

Alan & Ray both had great runs finishing 3rd & 4th respectively. Suzanne was 1st & Joanne was 2nd lady - both ran really well. David completed the male line up with a solid run, which seems to suggest that his injury worries are behind him (I hope so) & Clare had another excellent run producing another PB (30:02)

All participants got a medal & the winner of both the 1 mile (Alan’s son) & 3 mile (Shaun) got a trophy. Also the day after I got a text (entry form asked for mobile number) this read:

“A big thank you for everyone who ran in George’s Smiles from George’s Mum and Dad; the day was a huge success! Looking forward to next year”

It was a great day / great cause & I will certainly be doing it again next year. Hope a few of you will join me