A CHALLENGE which saw two members of school staff complete five half marathons in five days has raised thousands of pounds towards a new learning area.
St Mary’s RC Primary School teaching assistant Tracey Tallentire and teacher Alex Dougall took to the roads around Teesdale during half term to raise cash which will go towards a £10,000 “nurture pod” – an outdoor facility offering a quiet learning environment and other facilities.
Day one saw the pair jog from Evenwood to Startforth. Day two was a circular route starting and finishing in Woodland, taking in Hamsterley Forest.
The third half marathon set off from Harwood and wound its way to Middleton-in-Teesdale via High Force and the Pennine Way.
Friday’s run went from Tan Hill to Barnard Castle and the final leg set off from the town, taking in Whorlton and Wycliffe before returning to Barney where they were met at The Bowes Museum by pupils, who joined in the final few hundred yards, staff, parents and supporters.
Mr Dougall, 26, completed the challenge unscathed, but Ms Tallentire, 47, was nursing blisters.
“Alex just loved it and sprang along every day. He’s a fit lad and plays sport. He is now wanting to top trump it for next year,” said Ms Tallentire, a member of the Evenwood Road Runners club.
“After day three, when I had blisters, I woke up on day four and knowing there were two more to do, I was a bit emotional.
“I gave myself a talking to and once day four was over, I was just excited to do the last day and meet all the kids.
“It was such a buzz to see them all there. It was lovely,” she said.
The pair have raised £1,600 through an online fundraising page and a further £1,300 through events at school such as a fun day and cake sale.
Sponsor money raised by pupils will be added to that total this week, while S&A has donated everything needed for the nurture pod’s ground work. Ms Tallentire thanked friends from Evenwood Road Runners who turned out to jog with the pair for each of the half marathons.
Blisters notwithstanding, Ms Tallentire plans to turn out with the rest of the Evenwood runners taking part in this weekend’s Blaydon Races on Tyneside.
“Hopefully, I should be able to fly that if the blisters have recovered,” she said.
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
