Axion Consulting team raise £2k from 10k run

Axion Consulting’s team effort in the Great Manchester Run on May 20th saw several personal best times beaten and more than £2,000 raised for Cancer Research.

Organiser Maxine Brown said the 19-strong team – around a third of Manchester-based Axion’s workforce from three sites – successfully completed the 10k distance and that there are plans to make it an annual fund-raising event.

"With 40,000 runners taking part, there was a great atmosphere and everyone seemed to enjoy the run. Now the general feeling is that we’re all keen to do it again next year," said Maxine, who finished in one hour 12 seconds, beating her personal best by over a minute.

Director Keith Freegard was the fastest in 46 minutes 5 seconds with Senior Engineer Simon Wilkinson a close second with 46 minutes 39 seconds.

Keith, who beat his personal best by three minutes, praised their efforts, saying: "Considering some had only recently started training or had never taken up running before, there were some impressive performances. The challenge will be to maintain this fitness momentum and perhaps even enter another event later this year."

The rest of the team comprised: fellow director Roger Morton, Steve Bell, Hannah Burke, Shaban Omboke, Laura Smith, Uchenna Onwuamaeqbu, Matt Charlton, Jane Madden, Beth Ripper, Edyta Onych, Mike Bennett, Steve Lock, Mike Thompson, Wesley Prescott, Phil Wright and Stephen Brown.

For novice runner Matt, the camaraderie, encouragement from the crowd and supporting fellow runners helped both time and distance to pass quickly. "It was a very pleasant day and though my training had not gone as well as I’d hoped, I was astonished how fast the finish line approached. Slow but steady got me there in one hour, 36 minutes," he said.

Great support from onlookers was appreciated by Jane, who added: "It was really good and I enjoyed it. And I was pleased with my time of one hour 9 minutes."

Anyone wishing to donate can do so at www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/axionrecycling.

Axion Consulting, part of the Axion Group, develops and optimises processing and collection methods to recover value from waste resources for a wide range of clients within the recycling and process industries.

For more information, contact Axion Consulting on 0161 426 7731 or visit the website – www.axionconsulting.co.uk.