THE marketing manager of a Chester law firm and a Welsh international footballer have run 50 miles, while scaling three times the height of Snowdon, in aid of a good cause.
Holly Nelson, who works for Walker Smith Way, headed down to the Cornish coast with friend and footballer Milly Durrant to run the treacherous, steep and winding 50 miles from Zennor Head to Watergate Bay.
The Ultra Trail South West is the UK’s toughest trail event, according to Men’s Running magazine, and the task was made all the more difficult for Holly after injuring a heel in a freak accident.
Holly, who had trained for four months in the build-up to the event, had her heel cut open by an errant supermarket trolley just two days before the event.
Despite the setback of a cut heel, Holly completed her 25 miles and 1,750-metre ascent in four hours, 50 minutes, while Milly took four hours 40 minutes for her part of the run. Holly said: “The timing (of the injury) couldn’t have been worse, but missing the run simply wasn’t an option for me.
“This is not something you back out of. I owed it to Milly, to my sponsors, and to our chosen charities to get the job done.”
Always able to look on the positive side of things, the Hoole resident said the pain of her heel even had its benefits. She said: “The heel was so sore I didn’t notice the pain in every other part of my body!”
Between them Holly and Milly, marketing manager for the Federation of Sports and Play Associations, raised £1,300 for the Alzheimer’s Society and a further £300 for the Chester and Wirral branch of the RSPCA.
The duo are contemplating their next challenge for charity – either the HellRunner Challenge in Delamere Forest or the Anglesey Coastal Marathon.
To donate to the fundraising total, visit www.justgiving.com/holly-nelson1.
