Thursday 21 June 2012

Charity inspires woman to run 2012 Safaricom Marathon

On 30th June 2012, which is also Armed Forces Day, Zenia Bond from Stroud in Gloucestershire will be taking part in the greatest challenge of her life – running the 2012 Safaricom Marathon, one of the 10 toughest marathons in the world, on the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Northern Kenya in aid of Walking with Warriors.

Zenia decided to take part in the marathon after being inspired by newly formed charity Walking with Warriors, which furthers the rehabilitation of injured servicemen and women through developing projects which address some of the most challenging situations faced by indigenous peoples around the globe today. The pilot project by Walking With Warriors will be a gravity fed water pipeline serving a Samburu tribal community and elephant pan dam, not far from Lewa.

Zenia has never been to Africa, and this will be her first full marathon, "I have trained for marathons before, and never made it to the start line, but when I decided I was going to run the Safaricom Lewa Marathon no one was going to stop me! That is the Walking With Warriors spirit. It inspires you to push your boundaries beyond what you think you are capable of.

“For me training for and running this marathon is an incredible physical and mental challenge. To take on that challenge I had to ignore all those voices (both inside and outside my head) that said I was incapable, and to instead listen to those who said  “you can do this”  and then just get my head down and start training – hard!”

“I really want to show my respect for the strength, determination, and aspirations of all those involved in Walking With Warriors and it could not be more fitting that I should be running my first marathon in Kenya amongst the people, culture and environment that inspired that Walking With Warriors spirit in the first place.”

The first £1000 raised in support of Zenia's run goes directly to the event's organisers, Tusk Trust, a charity which raises money to preserve African wildlife and help alleviate poverty. Anything else raised will go to Walking With Warriors.

Walking with Warriors furthers the rehabilitation of injured servicemen and women of all types by employing them to manage, develop and supervise projects that are addressing some of the most challenging situations faced by indigenous people around the Globe today.

By concentrating on the skills and experience that these individuals already have as part of their former training and careers, Walking with Warriors will facilitate projects within the fields of infrastructure, health care, education, security and environmental and wildlife preservation.

Those selected to take part are encouraged to establish strong bonds with local inhabitants, respect their culture and traditions and contribute towards the well-being of the tribal group on a long term basis. In return, they will gain valuable experience of working in an international development arena while receiving continued support in their rehabilitation and the chance to live amongst some of the most inspiring cultures and environments in the World.

Through its commitment to sourcing, establishing and managing a portfolio of meaningful projects, Walking with Warriors, aims to accomplish what no other body has yet achieved – a combination of providing a long term future for injured service personnel and their families – and training local people in the developing world to manage their own affairs professionally and and in the knowledge that they are securing their own futures.”

You can donate to Zenia and Walking with Warriors please visit – wwwvirginmoneygiving.com/team/walkingwithwarriors

For more information about Zenia's run and sponsorship details contact
Zenia Bond at zenia@walkingwithwarriors.co.uk

For the latest information, follow:
http://www.facebook.com/WalkingWithWarriors
http://www.twitter.com/WalkWarriors

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