MARLOW marathon runner Samantha Amend has organised a race of her own to say thank you to a charity which supported her family following the death of her husband.

She has organised the ‘Dash for Dad’ races around West Wycombe Park in aid of the Saunderton-based Child Bereavement Charity.

The charity helped Mrs Amend’s family after her husband James died in 2009, and she said the race day was aimed at raising awareness of the Child Bereavement Charity and the work they do.

The mum-of-two said: “The work they do is on a grand scale but they don’t get the funding. I want to say a thank you to them for their support, they have been really good.

“My son was 18 months old when his dad died and if I want to bring him back, that help’s there for life. They will always be available. They help in any circumstances, whether it’s the death of a sibling or a parent there’s support available.

“We wanted to promote people coming together as a family and raise awareness of the charity.”

Three different races will be run – over 5km and 10km for adults and there will be another 1km course for children, and every runner will get the same type of medal regardless of the distance they run.

After eight months of planning the race day is all set to go on Sunday June 19 from 9.30am, although Mrs Amend – who recently won the Marlow 5 race and was eighth fastest woman at this year’s London Marathon – admitted to feeling a few butterflies in the stomach.

She said: “I’m quite anxious because people know me as a runner and there’s an expectation everything’s going to be perfect.

“The thing you have to get right is the marshalling to make it more of a fun day. That makes it a good atmosphere. I made sure the majority of the marshals are runners so they understand what’s important and make sure it goes smoothly.”

She won’t be taking to the course herself though: “It would be unprofessional. I have to be available to make sure everything runs smoothly.”

So far she has raised £3,000 in sponsorship to help set up the race and all the money raised from the event will go to the Child Bereavement Charity.

Mrs Amend added: “We have asked people if they can raise money for the Child Bereavement Charity, all the better.”

Interested runners can download an application form from www.childbereavement.org.uk.