Calside Primary teacher Sarah Armstrong has made a grand gesture to the Dumfries school by raising almost £1,000 for new toys with her sponsored run throughout the year.
She finished the marathon effort this week backed by the pupils but, despite the gruelling training sessions and punishing runs, Sarah insisted she has never caught the fitness bug.
She works in the Rainbow Room Learning Centre with children who have additional support needs such as autism and developmental delays.
However, the centre is short of resources and she decided to raise money to buy items for the children.
Sarah, 48, said: “That’s nearly £1,000 raised now and we need a seated area and something for the kids to climb on. The work on that will start after the summer.
“It was unfortunate that the final part of the run was in the rain, but the children took part and they enjoyed it. There were no bumps and bruises and it all went well. It was all good fun.
“But I have no plans to keep on running and it’s fair to say I have not caught the running bug.”
She said earlier: “Unfortunately, our outdoor area’s not resourced ideally to meet the children’s needs. In fact, it’s a pretty blank tarmac canvas.
“We decided to raise money ourselves to purchase some equipment for our outdoor area, which will meet the children’s needs, be fun for the children and also help them to learn.”
Sarah decided to do a 1,000km run at the school over a year to raise as much money as possible from donations.
And the final 50km instalment was completed earlier this week with the pupils taking part and roaring her on to the finishing line.
