A Dunblane mum has taken on a gruelling two-day ‘Arran Ultra’ challenge in support of a local youngster living with a brain tumour.
Valerie Storrie, 45, completed the 60 mile event around the island, scaling mountain peaks and crossing rivers and bogs as she ticked off two marathons in two days, despite fighting Covid in the closing weeks of her preparations.
It was all completed to raise money for the Brain Tumour Charity after 14-year-old Finn Clarke - a close friend of Valerie’s son - was given the initial shock diagnosis on Hogmanay in 2019.
The youngster has since had three brain surgeries to remove the rare benign craniopharyngioma tumour, with the last of these coming in December 2021.
However, the family was told recently that the tumour had returned, forcing Finn to head for specialist proton therapy treatment in Manchester in an effort to hopefully shrink the tumour.
After following the family’s story, ultrafit Valerie decided to put the running shoes on for her own effort and has raised £3,500 so far.
“It was the toughest thing I’ve ever done in my life and totally different to what I had imagined”, Valerie admitted.
She added: “It was slightly stressful meeting all of the various checkpoints and I managed to get in by the skin of my teeth on a few occasions.
“The scenery throughout was just spectacular even in the most intense circumstances - I’m thinking of doing it again, but I probably won’t!
“I would generally say that I’m fit and I also had an elite training plan with Keith Ewing in Dunblane which totally saved the day, I didn’t feel a twinge in my legs because I had put in the miles and strength training.”
The fundraising was initially set for a £2,500 target - but has since smashed through that mark with generous offers being made from all directions.
Valerie continued: “I really wanted to raise money for Finn’s treatment but the family wouldn’t accept a penny and wanted it to go to research instead.
“They are the loveliest family you will ever meet and there was a point where I was going to chuck it on a crevice after 11 hours on the road and I just thought of them and the people who have sponsored to get me down the glen for the last eight miles.
“People have just been unbelievably generous throughout all of this, I even met a couple of the stewards from the course at the pub after I finished and when I told them what I was fundraising for, they tracked me down on Facebook and sponsored me.”
To show your support for Valerie’s cause, you can donate at justgiving.com/fundraising/valstorrie
