The Cotton family, including daughter Esme, were planning on tackling the Liverpool Spring 10k to fundraise in aid of the TSA. Although the event was postponed due to coronavirus, it didn’t stop Esme and her family from raising funds to help improve the lives of people affected by TSC!

How did the family get into running together?

“Esme completed the Couch to 5k last year and we’re now regulars at our local ParkRun. We’re so impressed, proud and surprised that our daughter has become a regular runner. We then decided to all run together for the TSA in order to raise funds and awareness for people affected by TSC, choosing the Liverpool Spring 10k. I hadn’t actually told Esme it was 10K rather than our usual 5K and was hoping the atmosphere would carry us round!”

What inspired you all to take-up the challenge?

“We were so impressed with Esme and the 10k would help to give her a purpose in running. As a family, we also know how important the TSA is as a charity and how vital fundraising is to keep it going.”

When the Liverpool Spring 10k was postponed, what did you do next?

“We were really disappointed to find out that (quite understandably) the race had been postponed to October, which seemed a long way off and we wanted to do something to help the TSA during this time.

We e-mailed all the friends and family that we would have asked to sponsor us for the 10k, asking them to directly donate to the TSA instead. I know many people that have been affected financially by the current coronavirus crisis, with reductions in pay or job losses. However, some people are fortunate enough to not have their income affected and we asked them to donate using money that they would have normally spent (such as in travel costs, takeway coffee or hair appointments).”

What has the result been?

“We‘re really pleased to say that we’ve had a great response and lots of donations are being made. We’ve had people tell us that they are donating money to the TSA that they would normally be spending on something else. It’s great to ask people to donate costs that they would have spent anyway.

And the running…..well during the current Coronavirus crisis it is now part of our ‘home-schooling’ timetable and we run most days. Esme has a chart and colours in a square for each kilometre we run – we are hoping to fill the page before she goes back to school. The positive side of really liking a routine is that once something is part of the routine it is there to stay!”