On Sunday 5th March, a team of over 35 Gearcitizens, friends, and family took on the challenge of running 13.1 miles around our home town Cambridge to complete the Cambridge Half Marathon, with a whole host of team members from all over Gearset cheering them on.
Back for a second year
This was the second year in a row Gearset has supported the Cambridge Half Marathon. It’s a great way for us as a team to be involved in a local event that supports health and wellbeing — something that’s really important to Gearset. Seeing folks embrace the event in different ways created a real buzz: from all the hard work and training they had to dedicate in order to run in the event, to coming along to cheer on their team members on the day.
Sarah Dewsbury, Head of People, commented: “Building on the great feedback we had from the team off the back of last year’s event, we knew we wanted to continue to partner with the Cambridge Half Marathon on this iconic event.
It’s been great seeing the Gearset team spirit come to life even more this year. Some of the team taking on the challenge were new to running, and were inspired by colleagues from last year to take part. All the runners pulled together to encourage each other with group training runs and sharing running tips on our internal slack channel.”
Giving back to local charities
As part of our sponsorship of the event, we were able to support two local charities: fuel poverty charity National Energy Action and wellbeing charity Mind Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and South Lincolnshire.
These charities are doing amazing work in our local area to support people at a challenging time for many. We’re proud we were able to support them through supplying running places to raise money for their fantastic causes.
The journey to the Cambridge Half
We had over 35 Gearcitizens, families, and friends taking part in the race this year. We loved hearing their motivations for taking on the challenge and to see their journeys to the big day!
Here’s a snapshot of some of our runner stories:
Valerio, Team Lead, Customer Support & Documentation, took on the Cambridge Half last year for the first time, and came back for a second year to take on the challenge of getting a PB!
“Until Gearset started sponsoring the half marathon, it never crossed my mind to run this sort of distance. I’m really happy to have been nudged to try something like this. The atmosphere in the city was incredible and I didn’t expect it to be this enjoyable.”
Gemma, Events Coordinator, used the Cambridge Half as her return to running event to spur her on for future challenges.
“The Cambridge Half Marathon is an iconic event and I’m glad that it was my ‘return to running’ event!
It was such an uplifting experience running through the historic streets of Cambridge lined with supporters cheering all the runners on. It was great sharing the day with other runners who made the Cambridge Half Marathon such a special event. It eased the pain!”
Ahtif, Software Engineer, took on the challenge for a second year in a row.
“This was my second time running the Cambridge Half and I have to say it’s been an incredible experience both times. I originally signed up after some encouragement from my colleagues as a way to motivate me to get into running, but I enjoyed it so much that I plan on running it every year now.
The support at the event is amazing, it honestly feels like half of the city comes out to show their support for the runners, which I really appreciate, especially during the last few miles. The fact that so much of us at Gearset take part is really cool since it means I get to run alongside my colleagues as well.
I was quite happy with my time this year. I was a bit injured going into it so I wasn’t expecting to beat my previous time but I got a lot closer than I expected!”
Liz, Events Marketer, is no newbie to the Cambridge Half Marathon as she’s run every one apart from two since they started!
“Cambridge Half is a date in any local runners calendar as one of the largest races within the region. The build up to the event adds to the magnitude of the occasion, with friends and colleagues all talking about the event. On the day it feels like a community of runners on Midsummer Common.
The support at the start is excellent, however the support you receive on the course is inspiring. Grantchester should get its own mention, being the halfway point, and the crowds really know how to rally around the runners with their enthusiasm spurring you on towards Trumpington Road.”
Join us!
If you’re curious about team Gearset and what it’s like to work for us, take a look at our careers page and the exciting roles we’ve got open!