A TEAM VICAR within the diocese of Canterbury will swap her cassock for running gear on Sunday when she enters the London Marathon to boost money for guide dogs.
The priest, the Revd Melissa Carter, who’s 44, has been registered blind since she was 16.
She is running the 26.2-mile race in aid of the charity Guide Dogs, she says, because “For me, having a guide dog gave me the courage to exit. God heals in other ways. People say about healing and my sight, but I think God has healed through giving people the talents to coach guide dogs.
“And having a guide dog for me is like having my sight back, and I feel the running for me is similar: it’s bringing me healing through being closer to God.”
Ms Carter can have a guide runner, with whom she runs side by side, each holding on to a tether: “It means we are able to’t move away from one another. . .
“[The guide runner] will even tell me what’s coming up on the bottom. So, if there’s type of gravel coming up, or a slope up and down, or if we’d like to maneuver around something quickly.”
Ms Carter said: “It’s the forty fifth anniversary this yr of the London Marathon, and I’m 45 in the summertime; so I assumed I’ll give it a go.”
Not having run competitively since her schooldays, she got back into running in 2021 after affected by health problems. Her sister encouraged her to finish the Couch to 5k programme. Since then, she has tackled an area parkrun along with her husband.
Besides running for her physical health, Ms Carter said, she found running a type of prayer. “When you get into that rhythm of running and your respiration, it helps you get into that prayer state. It gives me that point to take heed to God, because I’m away from other things. It connects me with just how amazing God is with our bodies, and he give us things like the power to run.”
To prepare for the marathon, Ms Carter has been training within the gym and with a private trainer since last summer. “I got my place in June, and I began immediately to try to construct up my stamina,” she said.
Her fund-raising goal of £2000 has already been exceeded, and she or he expressed because of her congregation and native church schools for his or her support.
On the day of the marathon, she says, people might be supporting her from home: “They’ll be following me on the app; you’ll be able to track where my chip is and see how I’m doing.”
She is most looking forward to the way in which it can feel to run over Tower Bridge: “I do know I won’t see much of it, but I’m hoping there might be a type of openness of the atmosphere.”
To donate, visit: 2025tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/melissa-carter
