“Friends of Anchor”

by Ewan Ogilvie

“I noticed the link from Friends of Anchor in August for the challenge “5,088 Lost Miles” which is the amount of miles their events would have covered were it not for covid this year, so I was keen to assist and help them achieve this goal.

I have raised money for them every year since 2013 when my wife was diagnosed with cancer and unfortunately lost her life to it in 2015. I was keen to do the same again this year as so many charities have not had the same donations due to the postponement of events. Friends of Anchor annual income was down 60% at one point in 2020 compared to 2019.

The challenge was to run a minimum of 2 miles every day in September. At first this didn’t seem daunting but after two weeks of 05.30am runs, it did become more challenging, but running I feel gives you time to think and reflect. The hardship of running at least 2 miles every day is no hardship really compared to what the patients, carers and family members have to go through if faced with the challenge of cancer.

I was certainly blessed with great weather during September and there was only one day it rained. The views of the early sunrise over Stonehaven were also inspiring.

I encourage everyone to challenge themselves to do something like this in the future. Not only does it raise money for key charities, but it has great physical and mental health benefits.

Many thanks to all my RWG colleagues, family and friends for their kind donations. I raised over £400 and ran 67.68 miles.