An annual running event was held in Cardiff to raise funds for strokes.
Up to 350 runners gathered in Bute Park on Sunday to join the Resolution Run, an annual running event aimed at raising funds for stroke, which is one of the leading causes of death in England.
Through this event, funds raised for the stroke survivors can rebuild lives by providing them with peer-to-peer support, vital services, better stroke care, and help them find better treatments.
Julia Verne, Public Health England Director, said: “The latest research shows that people are having strokes at a younger age, while it’s often associated with older people. Everyone needs to be aware of the signs.”
Today’s event is 5km and 10km run, which is organized by the Stroke Association. This is a charity in Wales that support stroke survivors. Bridget, one of the organizer said: “Every stage of their recovery from a stroke we also do research and provide help, and we got a big focus on the raising awareness, because one in three people in the UK will have a stroke, and it is the biggest cause of long term disability in adults.”
There are more than 1.2 million stroke survivors in the UK and over 100,000 strokes each year. It happens every five minutes in the UK and changes lives immediately. This high-mortality disease claimed many lives and led many people to participate in this activity spontaneously. Ceryn, a runner said, “My grandpa had a stroke about ten years ago, so it’s for that reason I join this event, and this is my first event for charity which means a lot.
“I am passionate about this event because obviously this is for a good cause and it can indeed raise funds for some worst strokes as well, so I prefer to do something like this for charity.”
Steve, another runner said: “I think it is raising money to help those in most need, because stroke can be really debility. A lot of people think heart attack is more severe than stroke, but you can recover from heart attack pretty quickly, some effects of stroke demonstrate that people don’t recover and need a lot of help and support, the work these guys do is really helpful, so it’s a nice feeling for me to join to help.
“One of my friends had a stroke last year, so I want to raise money for him and I am also in training for half marathon last month, so 10km in the park is part of the training. It is nice to be running with a group of like-minded people.”
So far, the Stroke Association has raised nearly 10,000pounds and there are around 40 similar events across the UK. Bridget said, “We run this event to invest in our charity. After they’ve done the race, people tend to give us money, and we hope we will raise about 20,000- 25,000 pounds.”
Cassie joined the running event just for fitness and a bit of fun, but she said, “It’s amazing with all these people raise so much money for such good calls, it’s really good since everyone is affected in one or another by someone that had a stroke, so it’s a fantastic charity and a fantastic event.”
