Frome girls take on muddy challenge for cancer charity

A group of girls from Frome have raised over £2,500 for a cancer charity after completing a gruelling running challenge.

The eight-year-old classmates, Rosalie, Lowe, Erin, Holly and Olive, joined Orla to mark her birthday by tackling the Bristol Pretty Muddy 5K challenge for Cancer Research UK.

The event sees participants run 5km whilst tackling a series of muddy obstacles in aid of the charity, which funds work to prevent, detect and treat cancer.

The girls took on the challenge as an alternative birthday party ahead of Orla turning eight on 18th July, raising money for a cause that means a lot to all the families involved.

Orla said, “It was hard to run a long way because you get tired. Some obstacles were hard like the cargo net and getting over the orange thing – it was so high, it came up to my chest.

“The best obstacle was the one where you swing across on a rope onto the bouncy castle thing then jump off into the mud. We were so impressed we did it. We were very muddy afterwards but very happy, like I want to tell the whole world. I was also a bit sad it was over and surprised we raised so much money.”

The girls, who are all in Year 3 at Hayesdown First School, smashed their original fundraising target of £500.

Both of Orla’s mums, Katie and Vicks, ran the event alongside the team.

Katie Marshall said, “We were so impressed with the support the girls gave each other and the determination of the whole team.

“What was really nice is that all the girls waited for each other at every stage. Some would run ahead for a little bit and then they would stop and wait so that we would catch them and do it together. It was really lovely and we were blown away by that kind of support for each other.

“The whole event raised £26,000 and the girls’ contribution attributed to nearly eight per cent of all the money raised. They have made their friends and families extremely proud.”

To help the girls continue to raise funds for Cancer Research UK, visit: https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/team/orlas-team-13