Marathon, not a sprint, for SSAFA runners

26 April 2023

On Sunday the 23 April, SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity fielded 84 runners in the iconic London Marathon. Their combined fundraising has already surpassed the charity’s target of £200,000

The most famous of SSAFA’s runners in 2023, Corporal Sam Hammond, a serving Royal Marine from Cornwall, ran all 26 miles with a fridge on his back, smashing the Guinness World Record with a time of 4 hours 52 minutes, almost a full hour faster than the previous record holder.

Lt General Sir Andrew Gregory, SSAFA Controller: “We are very proud of Sam. He has been a super-star all along and we are delighted that he broke the Guinness World Record whilst running for SSAFA.

“I applaud all our runners for their dedication, not only to their training, but also to their fundraising for SSAFA; they have collectively already surpassed the charity’s target of £200,000, money that will allow us to continue to be the trusted source of support for service persons, veterans and their families in their time of need.”

Sam said: “Thanks to SSAFA for the awesome support – now I’ve got a six hour drive back to RNAS Culdrose as I’m on duty tomorrow!”

SSAFA’s fastest runner was Adam Moor, with an excellent time of 2 hours 58 minutes. Adam, from London ran two marathons in one week for SSAFA, the first of which was Manchester the previous weekend.

The charity’s runners included SSAFA’s oldest runner, Edmund Shillabeer, an 83 year old from Plymouth, and SSAFA’s youngest runner, Marco Turnbull, 19, a serving soldier, based at RAF Wyton in Cambridgeshire who was SSAFA’s youngest Runner. Edmund was amongst only a handful of runners over 80 years old. He finished in a respectable 7hours 36 minutes.

Leigh Morgan, from Rhondda Valley, and Maisie Craven-Smith, from Christchurch, became friends through their joint participation in the SSAFA marathon team. Despite starting at different gates, serendipitously, the pair joined up towards the end of the race and crossed the finish line together.

SSAFA also recruited runners from overseas, including Canada (Evan MacDonald) and the USA (Mollie Johnson and Zackary Barbitta). All have links to their own countries’ Armed Forces and wanted to run for SSAFA to give their support to the worldwide military family.

Hannah Siddle, SSAFA Senior Challenge Events Officer said: “It was lovely to meet so many of our fantastic runners at the post-race reception and see the team spirit that boosted people along the route. There were so many stories of people picking each other up and helping each other cross the finish line, truly inspiring to hear, Well Done Team SSAFA!”

Other Runners included:

Gareth Evans, from Cannock, who was blown up in Afghanistan in 2009, receiving terrible leg injuries and wanted to say ‘thank you’ to SSAFA for their help at that time.

Gareth said: “Being military, I’ve always known about SSAFA and when I was injured, it was there for me.”

Laura Wickens, from Solihull, made great time in the marathon and was running for her cousin, an RAF veteran.

Laura says: “My cousin had just joined the RAF and was stationed down at RAF Halton. He was out for the day when tragically he was involved in a car crash. SSAFA supported him and our whole family through the aftermath.”

Andy Wilson, from Leeds, used SSAFA’s unique adoption service for military families, and was running to “pay a little back” for the help he received in adopting both his children.

Sally Orange, from Salisbury, ex-Army mental health advocate, ran for SSAFA as a cream cracker! She has run many marathons for the charity in the past, mostly dressed as a fruit or other foods.

Elizabeth (Betty) Roberts, from Reading, has raised the most for SSAFA so far, with a whopping £13,000. Participants have another four weeks to hit their target, not something that Betty need worry about.

Betty said: “I have loved every minute of it. But that’s it! I’m done. The race was fine – but the fundraising nearly killed me.”