On Sunday the 19th October, my sister and I will be running the Amsterdam marathon in memory of Maria.

To give you some backstory, at the Christmas markets in Manchester after coming across a run club called Made Running, Maria told me that she’d signed up to run the Amsterdam marathon and told me, if you think about it it’s just 4 10ks. Well, that was enough to convince me and my sister to sign up alongside her and start this journey of building up our endurance, joining Made Running Run Club and become actual Marathoners, something Maria had wanted to achieve after completing her half marathon.

As some of you may know earlier this year, in February, we tragically lost Maria Eftimova whilst she was hiking up Tryfan. Maria was the kind of person to light up a room, she never failed to put a smile on someone’s face and always had some words of encouragement ready to give. She was packed full of adventure and determination!

When the worst happened, the incredible volunteers of Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation (OVMRO) did absolutely everything they could for her. Their bravery, compassion, and commitment in the most difficult of circumstances will never be forgotten.

So now, we’re running this marathon in Maria’s memory. We will be carrying her retired bib number with us, all the way to the finish line, to honour her spirit and make sure she’s with us every step of the way.

We want to raise funds for OVMRO so they can continue their work, helping others in the mountains when things don’t go to plan. Every donation, no matter how small, will go directly to supporting their volunteers, equipment, and rescue efforts.

There is no doubt that this run will be tough… There will be blisters, an uncountable amount of gels and bananas consumed and most likely tears, but we will keep going, because as Maria would say, ‘A marathon is only 4 10k’s’, and because OVMRO deserves all the support we can give.

Please consider donating in Maria’s memory, and in support of Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue. Together, we can make a difference for a team that makes such an incredible difference for so many.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts

Love,

Keeley and Ali

More information about Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue CIO: Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue CIO (OVMRO), or Sefydliad Achub Mynydd Dyffryn Ogwen as we are known in Welsh, is a voluntary mountain rescue team responding to incidents in the mountains and valleys surrounding the Ogwen Valley, Glyderau and Carneddau mountain ranges in Snowdonia. We are on-call 24 hours a day, throughout the year. Team members are all mountaineers with local knowledge and first aid training.