Some amazing achievements in the London Marathon were made by several local people, on Sunday, April 24th.

Darren Ramage

Darren Ramage, a postman from Ross-on-Wye, completed the Marathon in less than three hours. He beat his personal best time by 14 minutes, and ran the 26.2 mile course in two hours, 58 minutes and 56 seconds.

This race marked Darren’s tenth Marathon, this time he raised money for a cause very close to his heart. Darren ran in memory of his dad, Alan, who died in July 2014 after a 15-month battle with oesophageal cancer. “I wanted to raise money for a cancer charity, and I’m really pleased with the amount I’ve raised,” Darren told the Ross Gazette.

So far, Darren has raised more than £2,700 for the World Cancer Research Fund, and this total continues to grow by the day.

Kris Saunders-Stowe

Kris Saunders-Stowe before he began the Marathon, already knew he had smashed his fundraising target of £4000 for Scope, a charity which strives to ensure disabled people have the same opportunities as everyone else.

Kris completed the marathon in a regular wheelchair, rather than a specialised sport one. Kris is a disability exercise and fitness instructor for Wheely Good Fitness, which provides unique and modern fitness classes to wheelchair users and the disabled community.

He told the Ross Gazette: “I had a great time in London and, as you can imagine, I am very pleased with my time for the marathon of four hours and 35 minutes.”

Kris also competed in the London Marathon last year, but beat his time by 20 minutes, so he was thrilled with this result.

The challenge was not easy for him, and he suffered some pain in his wrists and arms, particularly towards the end.

In the lead-up to the Marathon, Kris took part in several other physical activities to help reach his £4000 target. He took part in a five-hour non-stop treadmill fundraiser in Morrisons in Ross, and he also organised a flashmob in Hereford city centre in March. He has now raised more than £4,500. Kris said: “I have to say a huge thank you to everyone who has donated and is still donating to my fund for Scope.”

But Kris will not be resting after his marathon effort, instead he has been in London filming with Channel 4 for the Superhumans Show. He will be a guest on the show which is being aired on Saturday, May 21st. Kris has also been shortlisted for a Community Champions Award in the category of Greatest Achievement Award.

Angela Whitehead

Angela Whitehead, from Goodrich ran the Marathon to raise money for MACS, a charity which helps children born without eyes or with severe eye problems. She ran the London Marathon for the first time in 2014 after losing her mum, Charlotte Howard, to cancer.

However Angela recently learnt that a good friend and a fellow Mum of pupils at Goodrich Primary School, Sarah Currie had lost her life. So she completed the Marathon with photos of Sarah and her Mum on her top. She told the Ross Gazette: “It was incredibly tough and emotional but they were with me every step of the way.”

Her Virgin Money Giving link for the charity MACS is still open and any donations will be greatly appreciated, she also decided to raise money in memory of Sarah. Any donations can be left at Goodrich School and these will be used to help Sarah’s daughters.

Alice Hibberd

Alice Hibberd, from Newent, ran the London Marathon for a Ross-on-Wye based charity, Hope Support Services, in memory of a school friend, Rosie Kilburn, who died in 2011 after a battle with cancer. Before she died, Rosie created The Knock On Effect in 2009; she wanted to raise money for charities and organisations that support those affected by cancer.

Alice was delighted when she raised a huge £1360 for Hope Support Services, and completed the course in four hours, 19 minutes and 52 seconds. She ran with her sister, who was running for the neuro foundation, and raised £1500.

Alice told the Ross Gazette: “It was really hard but worth every second.”Alice decided to raise money for Hope Support Services as 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.