Frome Running Club members have been saddened to hear of the death of stalwart member, Dawn Prior, who recently died from cancer.
Dawn’s partner, Ashley Reay said, “Frome Running Club this week lost one of their most iconic members when Dawn Prior finally succumbed to cancer, a disease she had been fighting for the past three years.
“When diagnosed, Dawn was in training to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa a mountain of some 19,000 feet high. Determined to succeed, Dawn duly reached the summit. ‘The cancer would have to wait’ she said. Dawn was only aged 57 when she passed away.
“Those that knew Dawn will have been struck with the ability to reach out and engage. President to postman it made no difference to Dawn as she had the ability to teach, be a leader, be a friend and encourage.
“Dawn never pretended to be a great runner but that never stopped her from running all sorts of distances and raising countless amounts of monies for various charities, culminating in completing in the Edinburgh Marathon in 2014, where she raised over £4,000 for muscle research.
“Not content with that, then Dawn with her sister Lynda and her sister’s daughter Jess, embarked on a fundraising effort for Dorothy House hospice as they had both lost their mother to cancer in 2015. Many thousands of pounds were again raised and donated.
“Many of Frome Running Club’s leading members started off with Dawn at the ‘Beginners Wednesday night session’ when Dawn would ‘lead from the back’ so to speak, to ensure that no-one was made to feel left out. It mattered not how good, or how much you struggled, all were made to feel like an Olympic Gold medal winner. A running club committee member, leader, club social organiser, Dawn had a go at all of them.
“Dawn had that engaging gift of life and the ability to make those she knew better people, and enhancing abilities great and small. She will be greatly missed.”
