Dads give school a boost with marathon effort

By Rob George Friday 07 December 2012 Updated: 14/12 12:29

Dr Steve Colley and Stephen McAlinden celebrate the end of their marathon effort. (s)

CARING dads at St Peter’s CE First School put their best feet forward and raised more than £2,000 for the school by tackling five marathons in five days.

Dr Steve Colley and Stephen McAlinden set off from St Paul’s Cathedral in London and arrived back at St Peter’s in a gruelling bid to help the school refurbish and replace its ageing IT equipment.

Both men have children at the school and Dr Colley even completed the 2011 London Marathon almost a year to the day after his son William suffered a severe eye injury.

The doctor tackled the 26.2 mile capital course in aid of VICTA (Visually Impaired Children Taking Action) after being inspired by William’s recovery from the accident.

He suffered the eye injury in April 2010 just a week before his fourth birthday and required a five hour emergency operation to save his sight.

Dr Colley teamed up with Stephen, who has so far completed two half-marathon events in Bristol in 2011 and in Worcester earlier this year.

Like Dr Colley, Stephen has children at the school with son Gabriel being joined by little brother Jude who joined the reception class in September.

The active duo left London and their gruelling route home took them through Banbury, Stratford and finally home to St Peter’s First School on the Holloway.

And their exhaustive efforts saw them smash their original fund-raising target and raise £2,325.02 to help the school's revamp ambitions.

The duo said: "We would like to thank everyone for all their donations and the encouragement and support throughout the challenge."

Headteacher Tracey O’Keeffe-Pullen, said: "We are so grateful to Steve and Stephen for their courage and determination in completing this challenge to raise funds for the school."

Donations can still be made either at the school office or online at www.stpauls2stpeters.com.