Couple bring new meaning to 'tying the knot' to raise £10,000 for schools in Kenya

A recently engaged couple will bring a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘tying the knot’ when they attempt to run a three-legged half marathon next month in aid of the Kenyan-based schools charity, African Promise.

Ahead of their nuptials next year, Londoners Katharine Coldman and fiancé Mark Richardson, both 29, will be running the Royal Parks Half Marathon to raise £10,000 for the charity, which was established by Katharine’s brother, Charles, 10 years ago.

The charity serves a cluster of schools in the isolated Kasigau region of south-east Kenya, supporting more than 2,700 disadvantaged children through programmes that improve the fabric of schools, provide learning resources and opportunities, and enhance pupil welfare.

Through their fundraising efforts, Katharine and Mark hope to help improve the lives of even more children by raising at least £10,000 towards the charity’s work.

Katharine said: “Mark ran the New York Marathon recently and I ran the Edinburgh half marathon a few years ago so we decided to add to the challenge of running a half marathon to encourage as many donations as possible for African Promise.”

“We decided that a three-legged half marathon would definitely be a worthwhile challenge, and given that African Promise’s primary role is working with schools in rural Kenya, we have also decided to run wearing colouring pencil costumes!”

The couple, who are both reinsurance brokers at Aon and divide their time between London and New York, are regular runners and gym-goers but the longest they have so far run as a three-legged pair is ‘just’ 3 miles.

Katharine adds: “We have been training separately over the last few months and finally did our first three-legged run recently in New York. We did get some strange looks, which surprised us somewhat given the bizarre sights you often see in the city."

The couple are aiming to complete the run, which takes places around London’s Royal parks on Sunday 8^th October, in under two and a half hours but Katharine adds: “Quite frankly, just doing it without falling over (or falling out!) will be an achievement.”

To support Katharine and Dickie’s fundraising efforts and help them reach their ambitious target please visit their fundraising page at www.justgiving.com/katharinedickie