Not my best look but thrilled to have finished in 2 hours 11mins. Final mile hard (actually all of it was) but remembering the kind individuals who gave to the scholarship made it so much better.  Happy to pass the baton on now,and hang up my trainers for a while,to anyone who fancies raising another £1,100 in whatever way you might fancy. Thanks so much for your support and comments and of course for sponsoring an Opportunity Scholar. Mary x

15 mins to the start and just walked over Tower Bridge - atmosphere is incredible and feeling all the more energetic some generous person having taken the total to £1,100 - thank you! Still time to sponsor our scholar. Will update at the end. Mx 

Just leaving for London with two of my cheerleaders. Mx 

Heading out tonight for a final run before Sunday. Feeling nervous but the amazing YuStart team just shared a message of encouragement which I thought you might like to read as co-funders of almost one year's worth of a scholarship. The £860 you've donated so far will support a student like Steven, a first-year Physics student and a recipient of the York Opportunity Scholarship. 

He had this message to pass on to you: 

Thanks to your kind efforts, I can fully concentrate on my studies with less financial distractions. Thank you for giving to a cause which supports students from my kind of background at university, allowing them, in my case at least, to fulfill ambitions they had long suppressed. 

--

For Steven and many others like him, the scholarship is a vote of confidence, and an opportunity to access a University education which maynot only change their life, but will change the lives of their families and their children. Your support is vital in making sure that people like Steven have the opportunity to succeed.

Our collective scholarship will support a York Opportunity Award recipient like Steven for a year, and will give them the chance to cover costs like books, specialist equipment, or even childcare costs or food. For some recipients of the York Opportunity Award, our gift will make the difference between a week of getting by or a week where the lights and heating must only be used when it's absolutely necessary. 

Thank you for all you have done!

It's brilliant that at 46 your mum and dad will still stump up sponsorship for you! 

I'm so grateful to everyone. We're almost at the halfway point and I'm sure we're going manage one year of the 3 year scholarship. Please share this project far and wide.

I was privileged to run last night along with colleagues at Chris Gatenby's jogforgeorgie which is raising money for lung cancer research at York and in memory of Georgie, Chris's late wife.

Maryx

Thank you everyone who has made the project get off to a flying start. Thank you for your donations and for sharing with others. About to head out for a Tuesday night run and buoyed by your support for the Opportunity Scholarships. Mary