RUNNERS, walkers and horse-riders travelled “To The Edge And Back” to raise hundreds of pounds for an air ambulance charity.
More than 55 people donned trainers and walking boots or saddled up for the inaugural fun event which saw participants meet at The Edge Hotel, in Woodland, to complete the spectacular Woodland Triangle route.
The day was organised by keen runner Tim Smith who regularly completes the route for his daily exercise.
He said cash was raised for the Great North Air Ambulance Service because it had saved the lives of several people in the upper Gaunless Valley.
He added: “I thought we would raise £300 but we got well over that. We did have a record. Alastair Hart finished in 18:57, I just couldn’t believe that.
“I know Strava (a smart phone running app) has someone doing it in 17 minutes, but that is for the 2.8mile route, we did over three miles. I think it is a national record.”
Mr Smith said it was fortunate that it was a calm and sunny day, after a number of storms passed through the area earlier in the weekend.
He added: “I went to the tin church in Woodland and I prayed for blue skies. Look at what we have – the last time it happened was in the Bible when Moses prayed for the sea to be calm. It is a modern-day miracle.”
Mr Smith was so impressed with the turnout, he is hoping to make it a regular feature in the village.
He said: “We’ll do the next one in the summer and I have been to the school and we are going to do one for the children.”
Also joining in the fun was child celebrity Teddy Berriman, who recently made headlines when he appeared in the Sky movie A Christmas Number One.
The youngster, who suffers from epilepsy and is acutely disabled, is also currently raising cash for Comic Relief through a Youtube video.
People can view it by searching for Meet Teddy Red Nose Day 2022.
![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)
