THE sister of a dale motocross rider who died in a tragic accident on the track is preparing to run her first marathon in his memory.
Charlotte Brown, who is originally from Marwood but now lives in Manchester, will run the Greater Manchester Marathon this Sunday, April 8.
Miss Brown’s older brother, Thomas, was killed in a crash at a motocross event near Low Hardwick Farm at Sedgefield on April 30 last year.
The 27-year-old suffered a broken collarbone, nine broken ribs and a punctured lung. Despite the best efforts of the Great North Air Ambulance Service team, the motocross enthusiast, who would have turned 28 earlier this week, was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.
In the months following his death, Mr Brown’s family set up the Thomas Brown Memorial Fund. They hope to raise awareness of practice track safety and encourage track owners to take more responsibility with the presence of medics and equipment.
So far, almost £13,000 has been raised in his memory, including £3,000 worth of donations given to the Great North Air Ambulance Service.
Miss Brown is hoping to raise a further £1,000 for the two causes by tackling the 26-mile route this weekend.
She said: “I wanted to do something for Thomas’ charity and the Great North Air Ambulance Service. I was very good friends with and used to live with Helen Holmes, a Barney girl who lost her life young. After she got ill, I did the Great North Run to raise money for Diabetes UK. It is a great way to raise money and to push yourself in someone else’s name. I wanted to do the same for Thomas but knew I would have to step up to a full marathon.”
The 26-year-old, who works as a PhD researcher in a climate change research centre, has been training for the event since Boxing Day.
She said: “Training has been tough. It’s very hard to run a marathon and it takes lots of time and preparation.
“I also play hockey and I have been training right in the middle of our season. This was hard and included lots of long, lonely runs on cold, wet nights.
“Thomas would probably think it was funny that I was attempting to run 26 miles but deep down he would have been proud.”
A memorial weekend attracted 200 riders and 300 spectators to Cumbria MX’s Haverigg practice track in September last year. The track was revamped and renamed Route 44 Thomas Brown The People’s Track. Ex-British and GP racer Alfie Smith designed the new track while machinery from Thor Atkinson, Thomas’s last employer, was used to move mountains of track dirt to create the new-look site. It is hoped that the Thomas Brown Memorial Fund will enable this to be an annual event.
Miss Brown said: “Despite motocross being a dangerous sport, the medical cover on the track the day Thomas died was minimal. We are increasingly led to believe that had paramedics been on hand Thomas’ life could have been saved.
“Paramedics at practice events are only recommended not legally required. The Thomas Brown Memorial Fund was set up in Thomas’ memory to raise awareness about track safety and to campaign for higher levels of medical cover to be a legal requirement on all motocross tracks.”
To donate visit Miss Brown’s online JustGiving page at https://bit.ly/2E6Vec3.
