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Royal Navy policewoman in parkrun quest
17 April 2018
A Royal Navy Police officer has set herself the challenge of running a 5km parkrun every Saturday for a year – even the day before she takes on the Virgin Money London Marathon.
Leading Regulator Sophia Hurlo, who is based at HMS Collingwood, has taken on the challenge to raise money for Alzheimer’s Research UK in memory of her grandmother.
The 39-year-old hopes by asking supporters to commit to sponsoring her for just a small amount a week – 50p per parkrun – she will be able to raise a significant amount.
And after winning a place in this year’s Virgin Money London Marathon she is hoping to raise even more for the UK’s leading dementia research charity.
Sophia is a regular at the Whiteley parkrun with her three-year-old whippet Perry. She is also going to run at some of the other parkruns in Hampshire as well as others around the country, including Colchester parkrun which her mum attends and a parkrun in London the day before the Virgin Money London Marathon on April 22.
My New Year’s resolution was to run parkrun every Saturday and I wanted to support Alzheimer’s Research UK as my nan had Alzheimer’s
She said: “My New Year’s resolution was to run parkrun every Saturday and I wanted to support Alzheimer’s Research UK as my nan had Alzheimer’s. She died in 2010 from cancer, but she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s the year before.
“Her final year was a real struggle. The days that she didn’t recognise her own family were the hardest. It was heartbreaking.”
Sophia is delighted to have secured a place in the Virgin Money London Marathon, which means she will be able to achieve a long-standing ambition.
To sponsor Sophia for either her parkrun challenge or the Virgin Money London Marathon go to https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/SophiaHurlo
Sophia has also signed up for Alzheimer’s Research UK’s Running Down Dementia campaign. The campaign, which launched at the beginning of April and is in its third year, challenges people to run 100km before August 31 and raise £100.
To sign up go to www.runningdowndementia.org