Couple Complete First Marathon For CLAPA
On Sunday 13th April, Warren George and Cora Lavesini-George ran the Rotterdam Marathon for Cleft Lip and Palate Association (CLAPA).
The couple asked family and friends to donate to their efforts, raising over €800 (Just under £700).
Choosing CLAPA as their charity of choice, Warren said, “We have always been grateful to CLAPA. They supported us during a dark moment in our lives. It was the perfect opportunity to give back by challenging ourselves to run the Rotterdam Marathon.”
Their eldest daughter was born in Argentina, with a cleft palate and micrognatia as a result of Pierre-Robin sequence.
For the first few months, she was fed through an NG tube. Warren said, “It was a challenging time, with well-meant but misguided advice being thrown at us from all directions.”
Warren’s mother, back in the UK, started researching into how babies born with a cleft palate can have feeding difficulties. She came across CLAPA and information they provided on specialized feeding bottles.
“It wasn’t just the bottles that were helpful but just finding out more about how other people dealt with cleft. The support that they provided helped normalize our situation and we didn’t feel so alone.” Warren said.
“It wasn’t just the bottles that were helpful but just finding out more about how other people dealt with cleft. The support that they provided helped normalize our situation and we didn’t feel so alone.”
The couple decided they wanted to ‘give back’ to the charity by challenging themselves to their first marathon. Warren said, “The marathon itself was an amazing experience.”
“The crowds thronging the streets of Rotterdam were amazing. Their constant encouragement helped pushed us along.”
“We needed it, especially when we got to the 30km mark and hit the infamous wall or the more appropriately named ‘hammer’ as they call it in Dutch.”
Warren and Cora celebrated their achievement in style, rewarding themselves with a beer and selfie with their medals.
On encouraging others to fundraise for CLAPA, Warren stated, “I would wholeheartedly recommend the experience. The support we got from CLAPA providing running shirts and offers of further materials made us feel special and added to the fabulous experience.”
If you’ve been inspired by Warren and Cora’s marathon efforts, take a look at our list of challenge events you could sign up to today!
