A LECTURER will be running the London Marathon barefoot for the second time on Sunday.

Alison Pooley, 44, of Anglia Ruskin's Chelmsford Campus, has decided to complete the gruelling 26-mile run without any shoes to raise money for Help The Hospices, after overcoming the challenge at last year's event.

"I ran last year for an environmental charity. It was about treading lightly on the earth and being barefoot seemed to fit with its ambitions," said Alison, who lectures in sustainability.

"My sister Dawn died five weeks after last year's Marathon and so this year I will be raising money for Help The Hospices, which provided such a fantastic service during her illness.

"Our hospice at home nurse was called Joy. I don't know how we would have coped during my sister's last night and the following morning without her.

"I like to think my sister spent her last night with Joy. Everyone needs that support at some time.

"So that's who I'll be running barefoot for this year, alongside my daughter Lauren, who will be wearing shoes."

Alison, who grew up in Essex but now lives on a houseboat in East London, already runs regularly without any shoes.

"Running is like jumping off a six-foot high wall from which you would land on the front of your foot, so that's how running should be and shoes encourage people to over-stride," she said.

"I think if you can run barefoot why wouldn't you? Raising money to help others is a bonus."

Additional reporting by Lauren Nash, Thomas Barnes, Jordan Milne and Jenny Sawings

NEW Essex chief executive Derek Bowden is hoping to attract new supporters from across the county and beyond – and that could include playing Twenty20 games at the Olympic Stadium.

Bowden, who began his new role at the Essex County Ground at the start of this month, is "looking up and down the A12" as he bids to bring more supporters through the gates.

The former Ipswich Town chief executive spoke exclusively to the Chronicle on day three of last week's opening LV> Championship clash with Gloucestershire – a rain-affected day which attracted a small crowd to Chelmsford.

It comes in the wake of the club's financial figures which showed that some 79 per cent of its money from ticket sales came from T20 games, compared to just seven percent from the Championship.

The 6,500-capacity Essex County Ground is regularly filled for the club's T20 games, and Bowden believes playing a couple of games a season at the Olympic Stadium would boost the club's fanbase.

"It's very early days but we are looking at it," he said. "Not to relocate from Chelmsford to the Olympic Stadium as some people have thought, but for one or two games a year, maybe a T20 game – a league game as it were – and maybe a showcase game. It would be quite interesting to use the Olympic Stadium. It won't be easy to make it work because of the cost of dropping in a pitch and the cost of staging a game there will be high, but if we could get 30,000 people watching Twenty20 cricket there a couple of times a year that would be good for us, good for the legacy and good for that part of London as well.

"I think there's been some feasibility work done over the years but we'll look at it properly.

"We're in no hurry to do it, but the fact that the Mayor of London thinks it's a good idea and I don't think West Ham would oppose the idea is encouraging but we've got to make the maths work."

The area of Stratford – where the Olympic Stadium is – actually falls under the umbrella of the Essex Cricket Board, and Bowden is keen to widen the appeal of the county.

"The East London boroughs are a big opportunity both in terms of player development and audience development," he added.

"The county used to go on tour, but we do that less now. We play mainly at Chelmsford, but there's a massive potential audience and market in the east end of London and that part of Essex.

"And up the A12, up towards Ipswich, there's another big area. Suffolk and Norfolk don't have first-class teams and people there do want to watch cricket, and it's a relatively short journey.

"So part of my remit I think is to look up and down the A12 and down in the City of London, corporately as well as playing cricket in that part of the world, up to my old stomping crowd of Ipswich and beyond."

The game against Gloucestershire ended in a draw after rain and bad light affected three of the four days' play, and Bowden admitted he had hoped for brighter weather to start the campaign.

He added: "You can never tell with April.

"Last April apparently – I've forgotten now – was really warm and then it became very wet and we lost games through rainfall here.

"Whether it's best to get the rain out of the way early or not I don't know.

"It probably is. If this is the worst of the weather we're going to have in the spring then it'll be very good.

"If it was 15 or so degrees out there we'd have had more people through the door and we'd be looking at it differently."

Part two of our interview with Derek Bowden will be in next week's Chronicle.

MARATHON fever has struck a Chelmsford running club.

Members of the Springfield Striders are training hard ready to take part in the London Marathon, just one part of a busy programme of marathons coming up for the club.

June Allen, 38, an assistant head teacher from Chelmer Village, will be running her fourth London Marathon after completing the 2012 race in two hours and 55 minutes, not far behind the 'elite' professional runners.

But she had quite a journey to get there after she collapsed from heat exhaustion on 21 miles the year before.

"I had to face quite a lot of demons to go back," said June, who temporarily lost her memory after collapsing in 2011. "I thought I'd never remember anything again. It took a long time to recover; I couldn't run again properly afterwards."

Last year, however, she overcame her fears and made it to the finish line. She said: "It was the best feeling ever to go through mile 21 knowing that's where I collapsed."

This year, June is raising money for a special cause very close to her heart.

Her godson Bailey Holden, six, of Rettendon, has cerebral palsy and needs a specialist car seat which costs in the region of £2,000. So far she has raised close to £900 of her £1,000 plus target to help with the cost.

Last year June was the 30th woman to finish but this year she hopes to do even better and complete the race in less than 2 hours and 50 minutes.

Another Strider getting ready to tackle the 26.2 mile course is Jan Schuster, 51, an occupational health adviser from Springfield who is raising money for the South West Thames Kidney Fund.

She was inspired to help the charity after her childhood friend's husband suffered kidney disease and her friend was able to successfully donate a kidney to him.

So far she has raised £258 towards her target of £500, which she hopes will help the charity to make medical advancements in the prevention and cure of renal problems.

This will be Jan's second London Marathon and third marathon in total after running the Halstead Marathon last year.

When asked about her training, she said: "It's been going to plan, but it's not been easy with the weather conditions we've had."

Running between 35 and 37 miles a week, including tough training in Somerset where the terrain is much hillier, has taken its toll and meant that her "legs have been getting tight".

Her main worry as the marathon approaches is "have I done enough?"

She is also trying to make sure that she doesn't pick up an injury or fall ill.

Despite this, she is looking forward to the atmosphere on the day of the marathon.

She said: "Everyone is really supportive all the way around, and there is music and entertainment so you don't have time to get bored!"

She hopes that all her hard work will help her to finish in her target time of four hours and 15 minutes.

First-time marathon runner Sarah Newton, 32, a buyer from Broomfield, is raising money for the Down's Syndrome Association.

Her nephew, Daniel, six, has Down's syndrome and she has already raised £1,000 of her £1,600 target for the cause.

The London Marathon is just part of a number of family challenges this year, as her mum and dad, Sally and Robert Peacock, 60 and 62, are running the British 10K London Run on July 14, and Sarah and her mum will also be taking part in the Great North Run on the September 15.

Sarah's husband Mark is an experienced marathon runner, and Sarah, who will be running in a bright green tutu, said: "He's been giving me pearls of wisdom, and he's told me not to get too stressed and just to enjoy it."

Running around 40 miles a week to try and help her achieve her goal of finishing the marathon in under five hours, she said that she feels "permanently tired", and "excited, but nervous" as April 21 creeps closer.

You can find out more about the Springfield Striders on their website www.springfieldstriders.org.uk

HEADTEACHER Ian Bowyer is causing quite a stir in the fields close his Great Leighs home as he prepares for his latest London Marathon attempt.

Mr Bowyer, 37, will pay tribute to his sick daughter Evie by running this year's marathon dressed as her favourite cartoon character, Peppa Pig.

"I've done a training run out in the countryside wearing the suit," he explained. "A few farmers spotted me and thought they were seeing things!"

Taking part in his third marathon, Mr Bowyer will add to the £15,000 he has already raised for the Sick Children's Trust, a charity that has provided invaluable aid to his family in the past.

Evie, four, has Crouzons Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder which causes the skull and facial bones to fuse together too early.

The trust provided Ian, wife Emma, and eldest daughter Lydia, with a house close to Great Ormond Street Hospital, while Evie received treatment there.

Mr Bowyer said: "Without the Sick Children's Trust, we wouldn't be able to remain together when Evie has surgery. It is self-funded, so it's imperative it gets support."

Evie has required constant support since birth and needed her first operation at just three-months-old.

Mr Bowyer said: "To know that the trust will get more exposure and that other families will get the help they need makes all the training worth it.

"When you're running, you think about all the people it will help."

Mr Bowyer, who ran last year dressed as Bananaman, took over as head teacher at Boreham Primary School earlier this week after five years as deputy head at Westlands Primary School in Chelmsford.

He said: "This will probably be my last marathon for a while, but because I'll be wearing the Peppa Pig outfit as a tribute to Evie it will be that little bit more special.

"Evie is quite used to seeing me in fancy dress and she thinks it's funny. My eldest daughter is the complete opposite though; she gets embarrassed by her dad dressing up."

BEN Cormack may organise a monthly comedy event in Chelmsford, but he's well aware that tackling the London Marathon will be no laughing matter.

Mr Cormack, 30, will take on the run to raise money for Chelmsford CHESS, a charity which provides support for homeless people in the city.

"CHESS serves our community in so many ways and does so with great success and a truly inspiring positive attitude," said Mr Cormack.

"Serving Chelmsford's homeless population is an incredibly noble cause and it's up to everyone who appreciates CHESS's hard work to show their support."

A MILKMAN whose granddad was diagnosed with Alzheimer's six years ago is running the London Marathon.

Tim Davis of Braintree decided to run for his granddad Eric, after learning that Alzheimer's Research UK is struggling to raise funds to undertake new research.

He said: "My granddad is my inspiration for taking on this challenge.

"He is 78 and was diagnosed with Alzheimer's six years ago. Since then I've been shocked to learn that there isn't enough money for research to develop new treatments."

Tim works for Sunrise Dairies in Braintree, with his milk round covering Loughton and North Weald.

Being a milkman is a favourite family career path, as Tim's granddad also used to deliver milk.

In preparation for the daunting slog across London, Tim has given up smoking and regularly ditches his routine post-work nap to instead acclimatise his body to the rigors of a marathon.

Speaking about the task of juggling the unconventional hours of being a milkman with training for the marathon, Mr Davis said: "I get up at 1.30 every morning, have lunch at 6am and finish at midday."

DECOMMISSIONING work at a nuclear power station has been disrupted after peregrine falcons nested on one of the reactors.

The endangered birds of prey had been spotted at Bradwell Power Station two weeks ago, as reported by the Chronicle, but now a nest has been discovered on the roof of the second reactor building, temporarily bringing work to a halt on part of the multi-million pound project.

"We called in an independent expert as soon as the discovery was made and we've quickly put protection measures in place, ensuring we don't work too close or make noise that will disturb them," said the site director Mike Gull.

"We had planned to work on both reactors concurrently, but it is right to pause work while the falcons are nesting.

"Instead, we will change our plans and put all our efforts into progressing work on the neighbouring reactor, in order to reduce the overall schedule and cost impact on the decommissioning programme.

"Checks have shown that we can operate the crane and progress work without distressing our new residents, but we'll be keeping a close eye to ensure they're safe."

It is believed the eggs were first discovered on Wednesday, April 10, by a station employee before a nesting specialist was called in to verify the situation early this week.

John Sutherby, treasurer of the Bradwell Bird Observatory and an ex-employee at the nuclear power station, has been keeping an eye on the birds, along with other keen twitchers in the Dengie area.

"It's certainly nice to have them nesting again and I hope this time it will be successful. It takes about a month for the eggs to incubate and then at least a further month for the chicks to fledge," he said.

"Peregrines don't actually make a proper nest, they prefer to find a ledge and the amount of fine gravel on top of the reactor buildings actually makes a handy place to do this."

The pair of falcons, which are protected by law, were first seen atop the 55m high crane erected at the site a fortnight ago, sparking fears that work would be forced to stop for the second time in the decommissioning process.

In 2008 nesting falcons cost site owners Magnox more than a million pounds as a result of delays as legislation protecting the rare species prevented work from carrying on.

Steve McNitt, the site's safety and environment manager, added: "It's difficult to know how long the falcons will stay.

"We are hoping for a successful brood and are planning on having them around through the summer."

The Chronicle has used photographs from previous years to illustrate this story because the authorities do not want the birds to be disturbed.

THE owner of a dog left fighting for its life after it was bitten by a venomous snake has warned others to watch out.

Cocker spaniel Maisie had to be rushed to vets for lifesaving treatment after an adder bit her on the nose while out walking on Copt Hall Marshes in Little Wigborough, near Tiptree, on April 6.

Owner Debbie Pickering said: "We were just wandering along when Maisie suddenly just sat down and appeared disorientated. Then she started foaming from the mouth and I noticed these two bite marks on her nose – at that point I rushed her to the vet.

"Luckily, I had rung them in advance so they had the anti-venom ready, they also gave her IV fluids and antibiotics.

"But it could have been so much worse as not all vets stock the medicine needed, and after three hours it's too late."

Nine-year-old Maisie was rushed to Spring Lodge Vets, Witham, where vet Nicole Laws quickly administered the anti-venom treatment.

"As we're a hospital, fortunately we had a supply of the anti-venom," said Nicole.

"Some dogs have an allergic reaction to the drug however so it isn't a guarantee, fortunately Maisie didn't.

"As the adder is the only venomous snake in the UK if an animal doesn't receive the anti-venom quickly the bite can kill."

Maisie is now recovering at home in Tolleshunt Knights although is unable to be taken for walks until the venom leaves her system entirely as too much movement could result in blood clots vets warned.

"The poison stays in the body for a couple of weeks so we can't risk it moving around," added Debbie, 44, who runs TLC Grooming from her home.

"She was getting stressed at the vets so they allowed us to bring her home but she's on strict bed rest."

Two years ago a dog died in agony after being bitten by one of the venomous snakes on Tiptree Heath, while warning signs went up at Galleywood Common last summer after the first adder sighting in more than 40 years.

Now dog-lover Debbie is hoping to raise as much awareness as possible about adders to stop an animal being killed again by the snakes, which are renowned for basking in the sun.

"I have always known that there are adders but I'd grown complacent," said Debbie.

"I've since found out that two other dogs have been bitten in the Maldon area but I don't think people realise how serious it can be.

"It's so shocking for both dog and owner and so many people don't have a clue so I just want to raise awareness."

The National Trust, which owns the land at Copt Hall Marshes, has said it has no current plans to put up signs warning of the snakes, although it will continue to monitor the situation.

YOUR children need you.

Anti-speeding campaigners have this week joined forces with the Gazette to recruit an army of volunteers, to keep youngsters safe from dangerous drivers outside Brentwood's schools.

Our Safety At Schools (SAS) campaign, launched in February 2012, has gathered new momentum following the creation of the Hutton Community Speedwatch.

We are now looking to sign up as many volunteers as possible to Bal Chhokar's safety initiative to cut speeding traffic, not just outside schools but in other parts of Hutton too.

Mr Chhokar, of Hall Green Lane, decided to act after a 13-year-old schoolboy broke his hip after being knocked down by a car outside St Martin's School last year.

"The more people who get involved the better," Mr Chhokar said this week.

"Our campaign is primarily focusing on schools at the moment but it is for the wider area too."

To start with, the fledging group will carry out speed checks in Hanging Hill Lane, Hutton Drive, Rayleigh Road and Wash Road.

Mr Chhokar said traffic was travelling along Hanging Hill Lane much slower after motorists saw the team on their first outing but several cars were still recorded breaking the 30mph speed limit.

He added: "People talk about doing something about speeding all the time.

"Here is an opportunity to get involved and show the community how they feel about their town."

Our push for 20mph signs installed at various points across the borough has also been given new momentum.

Essex County Council has reviewed its speed management policy and will now consider paying for 20mph signs outside schools.

The 12 Essex local highways panels will now also be able to push speed reduction schemes.

Brentwood Borough Council leader Louise McKinlay, a supporter of the SAS campaign who has lobbied the county council for the introduction of 20mph signs, said: "The next stage for us is to see where the campaign can be put in to make it most efficient.

"If people feel they own the campaign it will be recognised more and we are more likely to get residents' support and then take the plans to the highways panel."

A lorry driver, who allegedly smoked cannabis shortly before a horror crash in which his vehicle is alleged to have drifted into the opposite lane killing a 59-year-old Maldon motorist, has declined to give evidence today in his defence at Chelmsford Crown Court.

Zahid Mohammad, 35, of Strathmore Street, Leeds, denies causing the death of Robert Barnard, 59, of Goldhanger, by dangerous driving on 9 September 2011 and an alternative charge of causing death by careless driving while unfit through drugs.

He also pleads not guilty to possessing cannabis, found in a rucksack. Verdicts in the case are expected next week.

Prosecutors allege that Mohammad had smoked cannabis six to eight hours before - or even possibly in a layby on the A12 just 45 minutes before the crash. They claim the professional HGV driver had a relatively high cannabis reading in his blood.

In his closing speech to jurors, defence counsel Dean George said Mohammad, who had an impeccable driving, work and personal background, was devastated by the tragedy.

He said there was no evidence to suggest his driving was bad and there were three more severe 90 degree bends before this 60 degree one.

Mr George suggested Mr Barnard had "depressive factors in his life" at the time. The court has heard that police had to see off squatters from Mr Barnard's house on the day of the crash.

The trial continues