Over the past ten days, the RAF Benson Station Executives have successfully completed a 5km a day challenge in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.
The team of 10, whose day jobs are running every aspect of the busy RAF station, aimed to complete 5km each every day for 10 days in a row. They originally hoped to run 500km between them while raising £500 for Macmillan but managed 613km in total and have already raised over £1100.
Wing Commander Elizabeth Gilbertson is currently the Officer Commanding Engineering and Logistics Wing, responsible for all engineering and logistics support to the Puma Force and the wider Station. She came up with the idea and challenged her colleagues to join in:
“We have all contributed professionally to the UK’s response to coronavirus, but we also have friends and family who have been helped by Macmillan and unfortunately cancer hasn’t gone away. We wanted to do something to help the sustained work of this fantastic charity that continues despite the current situation."
She continued:
“5km is a distance we can all run but doing it day after day has been harder than expected! Our legs are tired and fitting it into our days has been tricky but between the 10 of us we’ve completed 613km in 10 days. Some ran faster and further than they thought they could, and some completed it despite long-standing injuries that have meant they’ve found novel ways to achieve it. It’s been a fantastic team effort and even our families and dogs have been joining in with some of the runs to support us.”
Whether at home, at work or even on holiday, the team have worked together to reach their target. With some members new to the team, the challenge has also helped the team to get to know each other better outside of work, particularly given the reduced face to face interaction over recent months.
The challenge was also running at the same time as a mental health awareness initiative at RAF Benson which saw the Station Medical Officer completing one of his 5km runs with Sirius, the big black dog.
