Running after Routledge

Most runs take you down the road or on the trail and you will be back again after an hour or two. Tomorrow Susie Stephen (nee Rutherford) (handicap 15.5) will embark on a journey that not only takes her down the road, but all the way the length of England, and on a boat to the Easter Islands writes Christian Friis.

The run will carry Susie a great distance and bring her a connection with time. Susie shares her birthplace, Darlington, with Katherine Routledge, who was on board the boat that took an expedition to Rapa Nui in 1914. You may have seen the documentary on BBC4 recently.

Exactly 100 years later Susie will also set out from Darlington by foot, and run the length of Britain.

Susie knows what she is doing, a distance runner since age 11, and now an experienced trail and marathon runner she knows what her body can handle. As a youngster she ran for Darlington Harriers, coached by Wally Lawson, until she went to the USA to run for Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.

Some of the highlights of Susie’s career include running international cross country races in Europe. On the track she qualified for the English Schools Track & Field Champs, where she ran the 3000m on three consecutive years. Her highest finishing position was 4th when she ran a time of 10:17.

Later Susie represented Newcastle University before spending a few years concentraring on areas of life outside of running. She got back into running in 2008, making her debut at the The London Marathon with a time of 3:03.

Susie has been planning her run through England for some time, and she intends to raise funds for a BioMax unit for Rapa Nui. The increasing population of Rapa Nui has put pressure on the delivery of fresh water for the people living there, and a BioMax unit can alleviate that.

If you wish to help raising funds for this great cause please email: [email protected]

Find more information click here: http://www.longrunergy.com/

Photos by Jesse Stephen.

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