An operations manager from Douglas has raised £2,000 for the Friends of Noble’s Hospital by completing an unofficial Parish Walk.

Ann-Marie Clucas managed to beat her Parish Walk time by eight minutes while battling wind and rain in making her way around the 85-mile route on the date that the annual event was meant to take place.

Miss Clucas said she was ’gutted’ when the event organisers announced that the Parish Walk would be cancelled this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

’I had been training since October and thought I may as well go ahead,’ she said.

She was initially worried that taking on the Parish Walk route despite it being cancelled would not be possible due to the early restrictions in place limiting the amount of time residents should spend outside exercising.

She said that following the easing of restrictions she got in contact with both the Covid 111 line and the police to gain permission for the walk.

Luckily for Miss Clucas all social distancing rules were lifted five days before her big walk so she was joined by friends who each walked about 10 miles with her or trailed her in support cars.

’The weather was absolutely horrendous,’ said Miss Clucas.

’Torrential rain began at about 10pm and lasted until about 5.30am in the morning,’ she said. ’I had never walked in the rain on a Parish Walk before, but it really worked for me because it kept me cool.

Determined

’I managed to beat my personal best by eight minutes. I did the route in 22 hours and 28 minutes.

’It’s made me more determined for the official one next year!’

Her efforts also led to her beating her target fundraising amount of £500.

She said: ’Because of coronavirus, I thought it was important to give something to charity and the support has been absolutely amazing!

’People were even donating while I was walking.

’One of my directors popped out on the day and my work, Task UK, donated £386 to take it to the £2,000 mark.’

Find her fundraising page by searching: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ann-marie-clucas