On the 20th October, Laura Etheridge, Rob Paull and Mathew Rumsey, each had their own individual reasons for lining up on Clarence Esplanade for the start of the 2019 Simplyhealth Great South Run!

Laura chose to take part in memory of her Brother in Law Mark, who suffered a brain haemorrhage, and was treated at the Wessex Neurological Centre, but tragically passed away last year. Laura was a non runner but finished the 10 miles in an impressive 1hr 45 minutes. 

Rob Paull had the support of his fellow Fire Fighters to get him through his first Great South Run.  Rob finished the race in a very respectable 2hrs 4 minutes. He chose to support Smile4Wessex after his father sustained a severe head injury at work. Mick Paull was treated for 10 days at the Wessex Neurological Centre, before sadly passing away in 2018.

"The care he received whilst in the unit was amazing and although our family never had a happy end to the nightmare we suffered, many family's do get their loved ones back thanks to these amazing people"

Mathew Rumsey also dusted off his trainers to support Smile4Wessex following his friend and colleague Greg Malone being treated at the Wessex Neurological Centre, after suffering a brain aneurysm. Thankfully Greg is now on the road to recovery and Matt wanted to show his appreciation for the care and support he received whist a patient. Mathew completed the race in an incredible 1hr 36 minutes. 

Congratulations and thank you to all our runners who proudly wore their Smile4Wessex vests as they lined up with 20,000 other runners for this epic race around Portsmouth.