Claire wins her race against the lockdown clock

Keen swimmer Claire Faulkner-Green won a nail-biting race against the Coronavirus lockdown clock as she powered though the water to complete her latest fundraising challenge.

The 44-year-old from Blyth had set a goal of completing a 10 kilometres long sponsored swim to raise money for Doncaster’s St John’s Hospice. In training since January this year, a Government announcement in March that gyms had to close meant she quickly had to take the plunge and get on with it.

Claire dove into the pool at Doncaster’s Nuffield Gym and triumphantly emerged 500 lengths later, swelling St John’s Hospice’s coffers by £820, which she’s now handed over.

She said: “It took me 5hrs 58 minutes and 49 seconds, with just a 10 minutes break. By the time I finished I was the only person in the pool. The gym closed the following day and hasn’t yet reopened.

“I was training for around 10 weeks and lost 2.5 stone in the process. I didn’t want it to go to waste so when the lockdown loomed I only had a short window of opportunity to complete it. But thankfully it worked out.”

It’s Claire’s second fund-raiser for the hospice. Last year she completed a five kilometres sponsored swim, raising a similar amount to this year. And next year she plans to eclipse both by tackling a gruelling 15k swim – around 750 lengths in one go – for St John’s.

An open water swimmer at Hatfield Marina, Claire works in the Compliance Department at Doncaster-based advisers MyPensionExpert, which has chosen St John’s Hospice to be its favoured charity.

Lindsey Richards, from the hospice, said: “What an incredible achievement by Claire. We are so grateful for the money she has raised and also for the on-going support of Andrew Megson and his team at MyPensionExpert.”

St John’s Hospice is run by Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust (RDaSH).To find out about becoming a sponsor or to fundraise by holding an event, please contact the fundraising team on 01302 796662 or 01302 798391. Alternatively you can donate here:

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