A SHEFFIELD firefighter will be going the distance in the London marathon to raise money to get the Yorkshire Air Ambulance's latest aircraft off the ground.
And Sarah McDowall has set herself another challenge in the run-up to the race on April 13 - getting in touch with Top Gear star Richard Hammond to show him fundraising for the organisation that saved his life is continuing.
The air ambulance transported the TV star to hospital in Leeds following his horror car crash in September 2006.
Sarah, a firefighter based at Darnall station, ran the 26.2 mile race last year for Cancer Research and chose to do it again this year for the air ambulance because of the dealings she has with the organisation in her work.
Sarah, from Woodhouse, said: "We have quite a lot of contact with them in my job especially when dealing with road accidents and the like.
"After Richard Hammond had his accident I read that they were using the donations collected for him to buy another ambulance to be based at Sheffield, but they cannot afford to fly it every day at the moment - they need more donations - so it just seemed like the ideal charity for me.
"I know I'm not going to make anywhere near as much money as was collected for him! But I'm trying to do my little bit to help and it would be great to get him behind me for some support."
She said she was looking forward to competing again, adding: "It's a fantastic atmosphere and the support down there is phenomenal. I am really looking forward to it."
Log onto www.justgiving.com/sarahmcdowall-yaa to donate.
n A SHEFFIELD computer whiz will be going the distance in the London marathon - leading by example to encourage others to take up healthier lifestyles.
Waheed Khan, aged 25, has set himself the ultimate running challenge and will be raising money for homeless charity Shelter with every step.
The IT worker, from Pitsmoor, said: "I have always tried to stay healthy - doing things like martial arts and boxing, but ever since I have gone into full time work I've not gone to the gym as often as I should.
"So I set myself the goal of doing the marathon and the opportunity came up to run for Shelter.
"I'm trying to lead by example in my community at the same time as raising money for them."
Waheed has been following a strict training regime since November and hopes to complete the 26.2 mile course in four hours or less. He also has a sponsorship target of £1,500.
- Log onto: www.justgiving. com/waheedkhan to help him in his challenge.
READ MOREMain news indexLatest sport.The full article contains 467 words and appears in Sheffield Star newspaper.
