Jubilant SMART team manager Edward Carter is well on the way to raising £1,500 for the PLAN charity, following his successful completion of the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon in London on 12th October.

Glorious sunshine and the Royal Artillery Band greeted runners and spectators for the 13.1 mile run last Sunday. A cannon blast heralded the start which saw in excess of 12,500 people line up to take part. Ed said "there were so many runners that it took me nearly five minutes to reach the start line."

The route encompassed the four Royal Parks of central London and the capital's most iconic landmarks. Ed said the race was "rather hot and pretty hard going in places" and he was quite apprehensive half way through as his longest training run had been eight miles. However he successfully completed the 13.1 miles in just under 2 hours and finished well within the top quarter of runners, achieving an impressive position 3,183 at the finish line.

So far, Ed's run on Sunday has raised £1,425 in sponsorship, which totally exceeds his previous target of raising a thousand pounds. "My friends, work colleagues and SMART clients have all been absolutely fantastic in supporting me, and I would like to say a really big thank you to everyone who has helped me raise these much needed funds for PLAN."

Ed is now hoping to further exceed his target as people can still donate through his online fundraising page at www.justgiving.com/edwardcarter.

Ed prepares at the start of the race	Ed kept up a good pace through the race	It was a gloriously sunny day
The going gets hot	Edward on the PLAN charity stand with his race medal	Edward and his proud family at the end of the race

Ed is a keen wake boarder and enjoys surfing, running and generally keeping fit. This was his first ever half marathon, so he followed a strict training programme throughout the summer to prepare. Following his tremendous achievement and marvellous fund raising success, Ed is now taking a well earned autumn break from running, although he'll still been keeping fit while enjoying surfing on the Welsh coast at weekends.

All SMART fundraising and Edward's sponsorship money will be donated directly to Plan, to finish building a much needed school and to provide on-going education for the children and community of Essandukurom, Ghana. To join SMART in supporting this very worthy cause and for more information about the Plan charity visit www.smart-contact.co.uk/about/charity-work

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