24-year-old Alice Hibberd, from Newent ran the World Half Marathon on Saturday, March 26th, and was thrilled when she got a new personal record.

Alice told the Ross Gazette:?“I knocked two minutes off my personal best time which I was really pleased with; the conditions were awful and my legs were still recovering from a 20 mile race the weekend before.”

In addition to running in Cardiff’s World Half Marathon, Alice will be running the London Marathon this April in memory of Rosie Kilburn, to raise money for a Ross-on-Wye based charity, Hope Support Services.

Rosie Kilburn, a girl from Newent created The Knock On Effect in 2009; she had terminal cancer and she wanted to raise money for charities and organisations that support those affected by cancer.

In September 2011, Rosie died. She was 19 years old. Hours before her death, she renewed the domain for her blog; she wanted her family and friends to continue her fundraising efforts for charities all over the UK.

Since The Knock On Effect was set up, they have raised around £47,000 for cancer charities in the UK. This year they are aiming to get to the £50,000 mark, and Alice is determined to help them.

Although Alice and Rosie had gone to the same school, and Alice had been in the year above Rosie, the girls did not know each other well, but they were connected on Facebook. In 2011 Alice saw a status Rosie had posted.

“The status was an angry one,” Alice said. “Someone was angry that her Facebook friends were choosing to destroy their bodies with alcohol and fags, whilst she was fighting a rare form of cancer, which had recently turned terminal.

Alice was touched by Rosie’s story, and she began following her blog posts online.

Alice said:?“Although I was not the wildest of students, I was at a point where I was failing my course, going out two or three times a week and not looking after myself.”

“I went back through all of her blog posts, although we were Facebook friends, we hardly knew each other, I don’t think we had ever spoken. It turned out that whilst I had been drinking my liver away, Rosie had been fighting cancer for two years in an extraordinary way: she had set up her own blog, a charity art auction and her own ‘not for profit’ business to raise thousands of pounds for cancer charities.”

Alice explained that Rosie’s story gave her the kick start that she needed. “I started looking after myself; I started running, I joined a gym, I went out less, I studied more, I graduated, I got a job. I put my health first; both physically and mentally.

Alice decided to raise money for Hope Support Services; the charity was very close to Rosie’s heart.

“Hope Support Services supports the families of people affected by life limiting illnesses, and so is the closest to the TKOE ambition. Rosie worked closely with the Youth team at Hope Support Services when she was ill and wanted to return the favour by helping to raise money for them.” Alice said.

To sponsor Alice, please visit:?www.justgiving.com/alice-hibberd.