Congratulations to Andy & Steve who finished the marathon at Palma, Mallorca in personal best times!

Congratulations to Steve Taylor and Andy Ackroyd who completed the Palma (Mallorca) Marathon on October 16th.  They both finished in under 4 hours achieving personal bests eventhough it was 27 degrees!  Here is a pic of the 2 proud Yorkshire guys with their medals at the end.

Having done the Paris Marathon in 2010, this year was Andy’s 4th and Steve’s 3rd marathons.  Steve finished in 3 hours 42 mins and Andy in 3 hours 52.   Those are fantastic times especially as Steve had a few injury niggles.  A personal best when they’re in their forties is good going ha ha!  Here is a pic of them at the start.

They both wanted to do something for local charities this year as they and their families were deeply touched and saddened by the the 2 tragic events which happened earlier this year involving Huw and Marie Stewart.

The Huw Thatcher Trust is growing by the day and it has amazed both Steve and Andy how well it has developed. The Beljo Stewart Trust was set up to  help support the 2 children of the former school teacher Marie Stewart who’s children Isobelle aged 3 and Joseph aged 1 will benefit directly from anything that is donated to it, so Steve and Andy hope to raise as much money as possible for both trusts and they even made more collections out in Majorca.  We’ll put the funds they raised on the web site soon and we’ll soon be able to announce the person who guessed the closest time soon with the winning a prize £100 of vouchers for the Coop.

Anyone who wants to sponsor them via Huw’s Trust can click here and donate via the just giving website.  Anyone wanting to sponsor them via the Beljo Trust can do so by paying directly into a bank account in the name of ‘Beljo Stewart trust’ – the sort code is 20 43 04, and account number 93753573.

It means a lot they did this for both charities.  Steve has been involved in lots of local charity work including the local Upperthong Village Hall and summer Gala – not to mention running a youth club and a football team too!  Steve knew Huw from the cricket club and because his daughter Charlotte was in school with Huw from their first day at school in 2001.

Andy’s son Wesley is in Carys’s school year which started in 2002.  Carys has known Wes since they were 5 and Huw quickly got to know Wes and used to look out for him at school – Wes looked up to Huw who was an older (and bigger) lad and Wes / Charlotte have been visitors to the Thatchers’ house and Huw’s birthday parties over the years.  These local connections and this local support for both charities means a lot.

Well done lads – a seriously good effort.

There’s a Huw Thatcher Trust Facebook page; ask to be a member of the Group here if you want to.