Huge success as Mitre Races for Life!

The Mitre had a brilliant day at Darley Park in Derby today completing the 5km “Race for Life”.

With 57 runners, including 7 members of the Mitre domestic team, it could not have been a more perfect way for the House to mark their memories of our wonderful domestic lady Maggie, who sadly passed away in January of this year. It was also a lovely opportunity for the girls to remember members of their own families and friends who have been affected by cancer. We were given a wonderful example of this by a lady named Carmen who spoke about her own battle with cancer from the stage and vividly reminded us all of what the day was really about.

The warm-up was thoroughly enjoyed by the girls. They managed to get three “shout outs” from the stage – for being such a big group, for birthday girl Hannah U6M and from members of the O Block in Abbey, who were also completing the Race, and who wanted to remind Mitre that it was not a competition! The group also had their photo taken by Capital FM and many other photographers during the course of the morning. You can see some of the shots Mrs Parish managed to take in the “Race for Life” gallery.

The Race itself was also excellent. A number of girls opted to go in the “running group” and really pushed themselves hard over the 5km to run as quickly as possible. Of a field of over 3,000 runners three of the Mitre runners came in the top 10! Another birthday girl Phoebe Walters 5M was first in from the group, finishing 3rd. She was followed by Georgina Whitehouse 4M (in 5th) and by Rosie Cordingley 5M (in 7th). This is a wonderful individual achievement for these girls.

Many others came in within the top 20 in the Race and it was fantastic to see them making the most of the opportunity to run the event. Equally we had a number of girls who decided to walk and jog (including Mrs Parish!). All completed, with the Mitre “back-markers” being Emily Boyce L6M and Charlotte Jameson L6M who managed to complete the entire Race three-legged!

The success of the day was not just marked by how much each girl enjoyed the day, but also by the generous support that we have received from parents, pupils and staff. At the moment the total amount we have raised for the day is £1,522! This is a significant amount of money and we hope will go some way to making a difference to the research into treatment and cures for cancer.

Our thanks especially to Miss Fenn, Miss Hill and Matron Margaret who supported us on the day, travelling with the group to Darley park and also to all those who have so kindly supported our efforts in this event. We could not have enjoyed the day more and it was a truly wonderful House event!