Argyle, Albion and Patriots team up for marathon effort!

Plymouth’s three major sports clubs have joined together to form a Friends and Families team for this year’s Virtual Virgin London Marathon.

We approached Plymouth Argyle, Plymouth Albion and Plymouth City Patriots for runners after we secured three places for the event – and they were all more than happy to help.

So, on Sunday 3 October 2021, ‘Team Friends and Families’ will be putting their best feet forward on a route our runners have designed especially for the occasion, taking in the home grounds of the three clubs and the Friends and Families of Special Children HQ at Virginia House Centre.

Meet our marathon team

Pete Waumsley, Patriots superfan – The most experienced runner of the three, Pete has clocked up over 30 marathons, including the London Marathon on 13 occasions. He has an impressive PB of 2:35:57.

Ellie Venables, Albion company secretary – This will be Ellie’s second full official marathon, having completed the 2018 London Marathon in a time of just over four hours. Her preparations for the Virtual London Marathon include running the Britain’s Ocean City Half Marathon and the Torbay Half Marathon, both in September.

Gavin Priest, Argyle’s Home Park facilities manager – As an experienced triathlete of 10 years, Gavin is used to running marathons – after completing the first two disciplines, a long-distance swim and a gruelling bike ride. If the Virtual London Marathon all goes well, he’ll be doing the Manchester Marathon the following weekend!

Sponsor our Runners

The route

Pete has designed the route, which starts at Albion’s ground at Brickfields and finishes at Argyle’s Home Park stadium. En route, they will be taking in the Pavilions, home of the Patriots; Plymouth Hoe; our charity building near the city centre; Bickleigh on the edge of Dartmoor; and Marjons, where the Patriots train. It’s hoped that first team players from each of the clubs will be joining their club colleagues for part of the marathon.

The aim – to raise money!

For our three brilliant runners, this isn’t about personal bests – it’s about raising as much money as possible for Friends and Families of Special Children and increasing community awareness about what we do.

Our CEO, Tim Tod, said:

Chair of Trustees, Kay O’Shaughnessy, added:

Sponsor our runners

Please show your support by heading to the fundraising page and sponsoring a particular runner or pledging a general donation.

Thank you!

And good luck to Pete, Ellie and Gavin!