Due to the coronavirus in 2020 the normal May event had to be postponed but in its place a Challenge Event, restricted to one hundred entrants, took place in wet weather in October. Each runner had pledged to raise at least £100 and started at intervals to comply with regulations. An amazing £26,000 was raised that took the cumulative total to over £500,000.
The main beneficiaries were the Sawston Village College Minibus Appeal, Cambridge Aid and Sawston Sports Centre swimming pool hoist with many local schools and youth groups being amongst the other twelve organisations to benefit.
Beneficiaries over the years have included local branches of national charities such as: Alzheimer’s Society; the MS Society, Macmillan Nurses and the Red Cross. Departments at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, the Papworth Hospital, Arthur Rank Hospice, EACH [Milton Children’s Hospice], Magpas and Riding for Disabled. Local youth groups, schools and other organisations in Sawston and the surrounding villages have received financial support for their initiatives.
Fine weather encouraged 1,106 entrants to turn out for the event; John Baslington, a former student of the village college and a regular competitor, came back from his army base to win the race. Sue Woods won her category for the fifth consecutive year and the most successful family were the Courtois family of Great Abington who had Simon coming first in school years 1-6; mother, Sophie coming second in the 40-54 and father, Vincent coming third in the 40-54 categories.
Many in the community contributed by providing stalls, volunteers such as local aerobics trainer Marlene Sharpe-Westwood who got the runners warmed up, whilst over 30 members of The Cambridge Building Society undertook numerous supporting roles. The Sawston Youth Group Band attracted crowds in the High Street whilst the scouts, the air and army cadets, the cricket club, members of other Rotary clubs and students from Sawston Village College all helped in different ways.
2019 Fun Run V2 from Sawston Cinema on Vimeo.
The event concluded at a July presentation evening when cheques totalling £11,600 were presented to the major beneficiary Cambridge Cancer Help Centre and to the Footprints Café, Icknield Primary School, Sawston Youth Drama, Sawston Youth Group, Granta School, Pippins Pre-school, Sawston Cinema Club, 1st Sawston Guides, Sawston Sports Centre, Whittlesford U.R.C. over-70s, St Mary’s, Sawston, Whitsers Playgroup and the Ladybird Playgroup of Thriplow. In addition, six local primary schools received Dictionaries for Life for a school year of their choice.