Sam commented:

“I have been working out in Africa for almost 2 years and have missed home very much. I’m proud of my roots and have always wanted to take part in the Great North Run because I see it as a great symbol of North East passion and endeavour, something that Geordies are famous for.”

Sam (28) has been working away from home fulfilling another passion through managing voluntary construction projects in Kenya and Tanzania. She does this as an employee of Newcastle based development company, Madventurer. Working hard mixing cement and looking after volunteers who give up anything from 2 weeks to 3 months of their time to assist rural communities in East Africa has only been the beginning of Sam’s fitness regime.

“This year when I went back out to Africa, I was determined to make the most of my time there by conquering all of East Africa’s peaks. I was lucky to be working in a village in the foothills of Kilimanjaro, so I would get up at 6.30am every day, before building would start to run up the mountain. At that stage I was only at a height of 1300m but by the time I reached the summit of 5895m I decided that I wanted to do my next challenge amongst the people of Newcastle and my family”.

Jonathan Finn (31), Sam’s brother will be accompanying her in the run and giving her the benefit of his experience having completed the London Marathon in 2005. However, they have not chosen the same charities, whilst her brother is supporting the Red Cross, Sam is very keen to build on the work she has started out in East Africa, through raising funds for the Madventurer Foundation (registered charity 1111805). She is now returned to the UK to work for Madventurer in their Newcastle HQ and is excited to have the whole team behind her.

Sam explained, “We are a small company but are very passionate about what we do. Because I’m running for the Madventurer Foundation all of us in the office are very excited about my attempt. They are challenging me at the moment to run in a bikini, if it makes more money for the foundation, then I might just consider it!”

Madventurer founder, Durham born, John Lawler, describes how the Foundation is at the heart of linking people like Sam to small communities as far a field as Africa.

“I started the company in 1999 after organising my own Gap Year in Ghana. I independently helped a rural community set up a secondary school and also did some teaching. The village elders were so grateful, they made me a chief! I realised at that point that there was a market for an organisation to link volunteers to needy communities like the one I worked in and so Madventurer was born. The Madventurer Foundation allocates funds to help people in some of the world’s poorest countries to help themselves, it’s all about developing together”.

7 years on Madventurer have completed over 500 projects, coached around 20,000 sports sessions and planted over 15000 trees across the globe. Sam her self has taken part in 10 projects, the first as a volunteer and the rest as a Crew Leader.

“Working for an organisation like Mad has been incredible, it gives you a whole new perspective after witnessing the hardships of everyday life in Africa. If young children at the age of 6 can walk miles and miles to carry water for their family before they start their day at school, then I can certainly complete the Great North Run. I’ll be even more proud to do it if it means I can help provider brighter opportunities for children like this in the future”.

So far Sam has raised £220 pounds for the Foundation. If you would like to help her reach her target of £1000 then visit www.justgiving.com/sammygnr to donate.

In all Sam has conquered 4 of East Africa’s peaks, Mt Kenya (4985m), Mt Kilimanjaro (5895m), Mt Meru (4566m) and Mt Elgon (4321m), a combined total of 19,767m. That’s almost 60,000ft!

“When you think of all those mountains I’ve climbed, getting to South Shields should not be too difficult, I just have to try and beat my brother to the finish!”

Pitured: Sam conquers Kilimanjaro, 24th March 2007.