06 Oct Grandmother completes Mercy Ships Marathon Mission
A 71-year-old Cirencester grandmother has completed the London Marathon for Mercy Ships, saying she enjoyed it “every step of the way”.
Reverend Angie Austin from Somerford Keynes completed the 26.2 mile course in 7 hours 19 minutes fuelled by jelly sweets and support from her grandson Noah, who came to cheer her on.
The young at heart grandmother-of-seven and mum-of-four has no plans to retire and has just completed a master’s degree while still working as an occasional agency nurse.
She decided to run for Mercy Ships to help bring life-saving surgery to the world’s poorest nations.
Angie said: “I really enjoyed it every step of the way and lots of people have donated. Noah was there at different points of the course with his dad, cheering me on. I think they are all amazed and proud of me. It never felt really hard. The crowds were great.
Noah hands out refreshments and encourages Angie on
“I have never eaten so many jelly sweets in my life nor had so many hand slaps from children to ’empower me’”.
She said she loved hearing people call out Mercy Ships to cheer her on as they read her running shirt and enjoyed telling other runners about the charity who asked her about it before the race start.
Angie said: “All in all, I am just so happy and feel so privileged to have been chosen by Mercy Ships. I am glad that I kept to the pace I keep in Park Runs and avoided injury.”
Mercy Ships uses hospital ships to deliver free, world-class healthcare services, including surgery and training, to strengthen and support countries in the developing world that need it most.
A former hospital nurse, then GP practice nurse and qualified nurse practitioner, Angie is an ordained minister and has also trained as a child psychotherapist before currently doing a master’s in Global Health. She also does talks for Mercy Ships in her spare time.
If you’re interested in doing a sponsored event for Mercy Ships, visit our fundraising page.