Claire Lomas passes £50k London Marathon fundraising target
Claire Lomas has hit her £50,000 fundraising target after 10 days of walking the London marathon course.
The eventer, who is paralysed from the waist down following an accident at Osberton in 2007, has walked around 15 miles of the 26-mile route in a robotic suit.
She passed the half-way mark – Tower Bridge – yesterday.
She will be passing through London’s Docklands today, with visits from ITV Daybreak presenter Dan Lobb and Lucinda Green.
And future celebrity visitors include Dave Vitty of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, BBC newsreaders Sophie Rayworth and Susannah Reid, Ben Fogle and Channel 4 racing commentator Alice Plunkett.
Claire hopes to cross the finishing post in the Mall next Tuesday (8 May) and so far sponsors have pledged more than £52,000 to Spinal Research through her fundraising efforts.
However when she finishes the marathon Claire will not be getting a medal and that’s annoyed many H&H readers, who flooded the Virgin London Marathon twitter account with requests for an exception to made.
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The rules of the marathon were changed this year to read that anyone who takes more than 24 hours to compete the Marathon is not recognised.
Former GB rower Sir Matt Pinsent, who walked with Claire last week tweeted: “I would really like to think that someone who ran this years VLM would feel happy to give their medal to Claire Lomas.”
And Andy Fountain tweeted: “Can’t believe that @LondonMarathon won’t give @claire80lomas a finishers medal. If they don’t relent I will happily give her mine!!”
- To sponsor her, go to www.justgiving.com/Claire-Lomas or text legs60 £(the amount you want to sponsor Claire), to 70070.
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A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.