Olympic athlete backs Deutsche Bank run

Olympic bronze medallist, Katherine Merry, has offered inspiration to a charity-minded group of workers in a fundraising campaign.

Merry has backed the 34 employees from Deutsche Bank’s Birmingham office who have signed up to take part in the Simplyhealth Great Birmingham Run and Business Challenge to raise funds for Cure Leukaemia on Sunday October 14.

The teams will be raising funds for Cure Leukaemia, one of Deutsche Bank’s UK Charities of the Year, with every penny contributing to Deutsche Bank Birmingham’s target of £50,000 in 2018 to fund a specialist research nurse for twelve months.

Merry, who won 400m bronze at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, met some of the Deutsche Bank runners at the recent ‘One Day’ event within the bank when staff were encouraged to donate a day’s salary to the two UK Charities of the Year, Cure Leukaemia and Rays of Sunshine.

The former world number one from Dunchurch in Warwickshire had these words of encouragement for the team: “This message is sent with loads of luck to all those taking on the Simplyhealth Great Birmingham Run. Having run a half marathon myself I know how daunting it is and for those representing Deutsche Bank and running for Cure Leukaemia THANK YOU. You are raising valuable funds and changing people’s lives.

“Use this as motivation for every step you take, especially when you have to dig deep and you think ‘Why the heck did I agree to do this?!’ The feeling of joy and the sense of achievement you will have after you finish is brilliant. Enjoy taking part in a fab half marathon in a fab city.”

Associate at the bank, Sharon Baker, is the team captain and has been instrumental in driving sign ups and fundraising within the team.

She said: “I’d never run properly before this year (maybe for the bus or to the chip shop!) but my fitness and mental health has noticeably improved and I enjoyed the 10K so much I really want to test myself over 13.1miles. I’m both excited and nervous about the event but feel I’ve trained and prepared really well.

“It’s great to be doing this for Cure Leukaemia. I’ve got to know the team so well over the last year and I’ve also been privileged to meet some of the patients and staff our fundraising is helping and I find it really very inspiring.”

Picture: Katherine Merry (third from left) with some of the Deutsche Bank runners.