Enter a 5k with your family!

Entering a shorter distance race is a great way to propel your fundraising to the next level, and running with your children can give them insight into your marathon journey.

Here’s how one of our VICTA families and Kate one of our 2024 London Marathon team members, found the Lock Lomond 5k!

Felicity…

Can you introduce yourself?
Hello everyone, my name is Felicity Kelly. I am 11 years old.

Please describe the VICTA activities you have been on and tell us your favourite so far.
I have been to two Family Weekends and one weekend away alone with VICTA. My favourite activity was the leap of faith.

Why did you decide to run Loch Lomond 5k?
My guide runner Karen inspired me to do the 5k for VICTA. We had been looking for a new running challenge and Karen suggested that we run the 5k, she thought all my adventures at VICTA sounded amazing and suggested we should raise money for them.

Please describe your experience training and running the Loch Lomond 5k.
I enjoyed the training as I love to go out and run with my guide runner but on the day I found the downhill very difficult and I wanted to give up but knowing that I was doing it to help VICTA helped to keep me going and the support from Karen my guide runner.

Please tell us about something in your training or from the race day that you’ll never forget.
My family all being there at the end.

Is there anyone who you would like to thank?
I would like to thank Karen my guide runner, my family and everyone at VICTA.

What’s your one piece of advice for anyone thinking about running for VICTA?
Just go for it.

Do you have any plans to run again or challenge yourself in the future?
I don’t at the moment but when I’m old enough I’ll do the 10K. My amazing guide runner is doing the back yard ultra in July and the London marathon in 2024, both for VICTA.

Freyja…

Can you introduce yourself?
Hello, My name is Freyja Kelly, I am 16 years old.

Please describe the VICTA activities you have been on and tell us your favourite so far.
I have been to one Summer Family Weekend and one Spring Family Weekend. I enjoy all the activities, my favourite is trapeze/leap of faith and quick zip.

Why did you decide to run Loch Lomond 5k?
VICTA has been a great support for Felicity, so when I heard she was doing the 5k for them I wanted to join her to help raise money for the charity so that others could experience the joy and adventure that it brings to Felicity.

Please describe your experience training and running the Loch Lomond 5k.
I found the training quite hard and I wasn’t very motivated but the race day was easier than I expected and the crowd kept me going. The sense of accomplishment at the end was amazing.

Please tell us about something in your training or from the race day that you’ll never forget.
I will never forget the sense of accomplishment that it gave me and the pride knowing that I had helped VICTA.

Is there anyone who you would like to thank?
I would like to thank Felicity’s guide runner Karen for setting it up. VICTA for the running vests and t-shirts and my family for the support on the day.

What’s your one piece of advice for anyone thinking about running for VICTA?
The training can be challenging at times but don’t give up as it’s worth it in the end.

Do you have any plans to run again or challenge yourself in the future?
I hope to challenge myself in the future by doing the 10k for VICTA but not for a few years. I’ll stick to the 5k for now!

Karen…

Can you introduce yourself?
Karen, mum of two, guide runner to Felicity and an avid ultra runner.

Please describe the VICTA activities you have been on and tell us your favourite so far.
None but I have heard great things about them from Felicity and her family.

Why did you decide to run Loch Lomond 5k?
Felicity wanted to raise money for VICTA to thank them for the great work they do. Last year she ran for Guide Dogs UK and this year she chose VICTA.

Please describe your experience training and running the Loch Lomond 5k
I run with Felicity twice a week and we used this to train for the 5k. She takes part in junior parkrun every Sunday which is a 2k event so that was great training and we just built up each week.

Please tell us about something in your training or from the race day that you’ll never forget.
Felicity’s face when she started to hear the cheering from the crowd and knew she was near the finish line.

Is there anyone who you would like to thank?
Felicity for being such an inspiration to me and many others!

What’s your one piece of advice for anyone thinking about running for VICTA?
Do it! the support has been great from the team at VICTA.

Do you have any plans to run again or challenge yourself in the future?
Yes, I am doing the Last One Standing Highlander Backyard Ultra in July 2023. I will aim to run for as long as I can, the last time I did a Backyard Ultra I ran for 35 hours and set the GBR female record so I’m hoping to improve on that. In 2024 I will be running the London Marathon for VICTA.