MAMAthon 2019

Published on: 18/10/2019

Thank you to everyone that supported the first ever MAMAthon!

On the morning of Sunday 13th October 2019, many people woke up to the most miserable weather we had seen in weeks. Typical of course as it was running day!

Despite the gloom and drizzle, a crowd of passionate people made their journey to the Otterspool Promenade in Liverpool to run and cheer in support of MAMA Academy and saving little lives.

A special thank you to BeatLife Liverpool Samba Band for their fantastic musical assembly and lifting the spirits of everyone running their 5K! What a great sound helping everyone along both at the start and on the home run.

Beatlife Liverpool Samba Band

We would like to say a huge thank you to Jo & Phil Moody from Pool Runnings for helping to arrange the event over the last few months and assisting so much on the day. Also to Penny Lane Striders and Kirby Millers AC. Another great big thank you to Labour Councillor Sam Gorst for opening the race for us. Definitely not forgetting, all the amazing Marshalls too for keeping us going! You were amazing and we needed all those high fives along the way!

Jo Moody and Dom Gilvarry

Councillor Sam Gorst and Lynnie Hinnigan

All of Team MAMA have been affected by the loss of a baby, so this is so much more than just an “event” for us. Fundraising Manager, Dom Gilvarry  said afterwards:

“Such amazing support to help put this event together. I’m surrounded by amazing people and I’m so proud right now. Huge thanks for those of you who got involved. You have no idea what days like today mean to me and my family”

Esme Gilvarry

Dom’s daughter Esme also ran the MAMAthon which was her first ever 5K run, in memory of her sister Ella who is the passion behind all of Dom’s fundraising. After looking at all the figures and various sponsorship and donations, the MAMAthon raised an estimated £6000! This incredible amount of money will help MAMA Academy achieve so much so on behalf of us all, a massive THANK YOU!

Another familiar face of Team MAMA was our Communications Officer Lisa and her family. They have been busy all year taking part in the Carry Their Names Challenge and ran the last 5K to finish off their personal goals in memory of their daughter Alexandra Grace. Lisa said:

“What an incredible morning. Thank you so much to everyone who has been involved in our very first MAMAthon. We have been so overwhelmed with the support. What a wonderful way to mark #BLAW2019 in memory of our babies. Thank you for carrying their names with us and thank you for helping us to save future little lives”

Phil and Lisa Clarke

Natasha, one of our amazing volunteers came along with her step dad who was running in memory of Rey-Rosemary, Natasha’s daughter. One of Steve’s first steps towards running a marathon before his 60th birthday!

Steve and Natasha

So many of you turned up, despite the weather! All the runners / walkers did such an amazing job. With so many people running due to personal experiences of baby loss, the event reflected on what our special community can achieve when we all come together in memory of babies taken far too soon. Lot’s of you who haven’t directly been affected by baby loss carried hearts for us and this honestly means the world. Thank you so much! It was an emotional, yet uplifting morning and such a positive way to remember our babies.

The Carry Their Names Campaign is set to start again next year, and further fundraising events are already a work in progress. So keep your eyes peeled for the next set of adventures and we welcome anyone to join Team MAMA in the near future! Please sign up to our newsletter to be kept up to date.

There’s just a few pictures below, but you can find all the professional pictures taken on the day by Richie from Paul Hanley Photos here. Thank you so much to Richie, we absolutely love them all. Enjoy!