Three recruitment consultants from Ipswich completed a seven-mile, mud-filled race, complete with 30 different gruelling obstacles, yesterday (Sunday 16 October) in aid of St Elizabeth Hospice.
Paul Sheldrake, Kelly Earl and Gabrielle Wright, who all work at the Pure Ipswich office, took part in the tenth annual Suffolk Whole Hog race as part of the professional recruitment agency’s own 10thanniversary campaign,#Ipswichbig10.
#Ipswichbig10 has been set up to mark a decade since the Ipswich office first opened and the team has pledged to take part in, or organise, a series of different events to raise money for 10 different local charities throughout 2016. The intrepid trio were the latest Pure team to brave a challenge in aid of the anniversary campaign, and they really did go the whole hog. They chose to take on the toughest of the two races, held at Wantisden Valley in Woodbridge, and signed up for the Boss Hog race: two miles longer and with ten more obstacles than the standard Whole Hog route. All three ended up crawling under cargo nets, sliding through muddy bogs, climbing up steep banks and walls, and wading through rivers to complete the course.
Paul Sheldrake, manager at Pure Ipswich office, said: “We all took part last year, so we thought we’d know what to expect. But it was far colder and a whole lot muddier than before. There was a really strong wind and about half way around the course it absolutely pelted it down. Luckily we were at least in the first wave of runners. I can’t imagine what it would have been like once we’d all run through and churned up the ground even more. However, the sense of achievement felt at the end of events like this always makes up for any discomfort along the way!”
Five pounds from every runner’s entry fee is donated to the St Elizabeth Hospice. The Pure team also looked to raise further sponsorship money and have so far collected an extra £200. St Elizabeth Hospice improves life for people in Suffolk with a progressive illness. It provides specialist support wherever it is required, whether at home, in the community or at the Hospice.
Other local charities which have already benefited from Pure’s 10-year-anniversary campaign include: The Papworth Trust, East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices, East Anglian Air Ambulance, St Helena’s Hospice, Brightstars and Ormiston Families. Further charity events already confirmed as part of the #IpswichBig10 anniversary campaign include Paul Sheldrake and Gabrielle Wright putting on their running shoes once again to take part in the Adnams Southwold 10k Charity Run in November.