A WALK to raise money for charity was sadly ruined by the rain, but the dedicated organiser said he would rearrange the big day.
Justin Roman, 41, of Pinner, was expecting about 2,000 people to come to The Roger Bannister Stadium on Sunday to take part in the event for Merlin’s Wish Foundation.
The charity grants wishes to children with terminal and serious illnesses.
Mr Roman previously said the walk would go ahead ‘whatever the weather’, but things were much worse than he expected with the track waterlogged and the car park flooded.
He said: “The weather was absolutely dreadful and only a handful of people turned up as a result, which is a shame, but I will be reorganising the day and hopefully all the people who said they would take part will re-commit.”
The 20 people who did turn up were in high spirits, with some of them walking five miles rather than the expected one to show their support for Mr Roman and the charity.
He expects that about £1,000 will have been gathered on the day.
Karen Cox, 43, a manager at Stanmore Funeral Home, walked five miles, despite suffering from a painful skin condition.
She said: “It was pretty painful near the end but I just concentrated and got on with it. I am so glad I did it and it’s a fantastic cause.
“People heard about how the rain resulted in so few people coming, and some have doubled their sponsorship donations to me so I think I will gather about £300 in total.”
Mr Roman will confirm the new date for the event soon which the Observer will publish.
Former world light-heavyweight boxing champion John Conteh showed his support by meeting the weather-hardy fundraisers and walking three miles himself.
The walk is part of a nationwide attempt by the charity to break a record, called the Million Mile Challenge, to get people to walk, cycle, run or swim a mile to hit the target of one million miles in total.
Anyone wanting to find out more and take part in the re-scheduled event, can download a sponsorship form by visiting www.merlinswishfoundation.org.
