Daisy Sears, age 8, from Salisbury blew the rest of the field away when she ran fastest in the Junior 1.5km race in the Bournemouth Marathon Festival at the weekend. Daisy wanted to take part in the race after being inspired by her Mum who took part in the Half Marathon at the event and chose to raise money for Little Troopers, a charity that has supported her and her sister.
Daisy’s Mum Claire, said “Daisy chose to raise money for Little Troopers completely off her own back. The charity gave her and her sister Matilda (2yrs) tickets to Lapland UK last Christmas while her Step Daddy was away and also sent them lovely birthday cards for both of their birthdays.”
She added “I can’t believe how well Daisy did. I knew she was fast (she broke a school record at sports day), but I didn’t think she was that fast over such a distance! We are so proud!! She was 2nd girl over the line so was presented with 2nd prize trophy, but when the official times came through she was the fastest girl. Entirely my fault she wasn’t first over the line as I underestimated her time by loads (estimated 11mins, actual time 6mins 36secs) and she was in the 3rd starting pen!!”
Daisy’s step-daddy Edward is a member of the Royal Artillery and is serving with 3 Div in Bulford at the moment. Claire adds “Edward is away a lot with his current role and this time was especially hard as he was out of contact for over two weeks. He was away for the whole month (including for the start of the new school year) but came home just in time for the big race day!”
Louise Fetigan, Founder and Operations Manager for Little Troopers said; “We are so proud of Daisy. Her Mum told us that she trained hard for her race, going out for runs with her and working hard in her games lessons at school as well as playing hockey at least 4 times a week and going for bike rides! We are so proud of her and touched that she wanted to support us so we can help lots more Little Troopers like her.”
Daisy has raised £320 for the charity so far and has a fundraising page set up if people would like to donate more; https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/daisysears1
