Dedicated runners shone as they tackled a new night-time challenge to raise funds for St Andrew’s Hospice.
Nearly 400 people joined North Lanarkshire Leisure’s inaugural Nite Lite 10km woodland trail, through the Dalzell estate, Barons Haugh nature reserve and Clyde walkway in Motherwell.
They raised more than £400 for the Airdrie charity through pledges made while registering online, and with dozens of runners also raising sponsorship for St Andrew’s by completing the run, as much as £2000 more is expected to be added to funds.
Runners donned head torches and fluorescent clothing for the evening race through the woodland estate, finishing at the lochside in Strathclyde Park.
The first male finishers were Ross Harvey of Irvine AC, Douglas Roberts of Cambuslang and Motherwell AC runner Christopher McDonald; while Glasgow runner Claire Thompson was the first woman to cross the line, ahead of fellow city athlete Hannah Bayes and Megan Smith of Corstorphine AC.
Event organiser Douglas Holmes, of North Lanarkshire Leisure, said: “It was absolutely fantastic – we’re delighted with the entry numbers as they’re more than we anticipated, and especially that there were 250 female runners.
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“It’s been received really well and the feedback online has been fabulous. The marshalls were incredible, including Scouts and a group of Duke of Edinburgh volunteers.
“With everyone having head torches and fluorescent kit, it was really spectacular and was a really striking sight on the evening.
“The runners pledged a total of £500 when entering for St Andrew’s Hospice, which was our charity.
“They had at least 10 runners raising sponsorship for them so hopefully the figure will reach around £2000 for them which is great for a small local event.”
St Andrew’s Hospice head of fundraising John Brady said: “We’d like to thank everyone who took part in this fantastic new event to support the hospice.
“The money raised will help us to provide specialist palliative care to patients and their families from across Lanarkshire.
“Our fundraising team has to raise £88,000 every week to maintain these vital care services and we couldn’t continue to do this without the amazing support of our local communities.”
