http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/ely/2005/08/03/5cc992a3-5a55-416b-aaab-b93c2044a396.lpf
Race bosses threaten to fine wife of dead runner
GRIEF-stricken widow Julie Challis has been left sickened by Flora
London Marathon organisers who demanded the return of a microchip her
husband was wearing when he collapsed and died during the race.
A letter was sent to her home threatening a £10 fine if the equipment,
which husband Ray was wearing as he collapsed at the seven-mile point
of this year's event, was not returned.
Blunders: Ray at the 2004 marathon
Julie, of Ely Road, Witcham Toll, said: "I rang them and told them to
send two very burly men with a couple of shovels to dig him up if they
wanted it back that badly.
"I was just steaming angry - Ray was my soulmate."
The insensitive blunder was the latest in a series of hurtful mistakes
by marathon organisers who:
* Sent a letter of condolence to Julie offering sympathy for her
husband's death but called him RICHARD instead of Raymond.
* Promised to send someone to the funeral - but nobody arrived and no
flowers were sent.
* Delivered an application form to Ray encouraging him to apply for
next year's race.
As way of an apology for the series of mistakes, organisers offered to
pay for a commemorative bench to be placed in the churchyard in
Wentworth where Ray was buried, but nearly a month after Julie gave
them an estimate of £199 she is still waiting for them to return her
call.
Julie said: "It is just disgusting. It was the eighth time Ray had
taken part in the race and they are quick enough to take the entrance
fee and the sponsorship money he raised over the years.
"They have apologised but it is a struggle to get through every single
day and this just made me so angry.
"It is just one thing after another. They blame it on all their
different departments but how difficult is it to put 'deceased' after
his name on the computer? I only wish he was around to take part next
year."
Nick Bitel, chief executive of the London Marathon, said: "We have
apologised to Mrs Challis for any upset these administration errors may
have caused.
"Unfortunately errors do creep in to even the most organised companies
and the system automatically generated a letter asking for payment for
the chip.
"But the buck stops here and it is our intention to send payment for
the bench as soon as a plaque has been made."
Ray, 59, stopped breathing during the race on April 17. Paramedics
rushed to help him, but he was pronounced dead at Lewisham Hospital.
They have apologised but it is a struggle to get through every single
day and this just made me so angry.
Julie Challis
Julie was watching the marathon on television at home with her six
children when a policewoman knocked at the door to break the terrible
news.
A microchip is given to all participants to track their progress around
the 26- mile course, but Julie buried her husband in his trainers with
the chip still attached.
"I buried him wearing the trainers he wore that day so that he could
finish his marathon in heaven," said Julie.
Extensive medical tests suggested that Ray died of a rare condition
where the muscular walls of the heart thicken and prevent the heart
from filling up with blood properly.
But the condition, cardiomyopathy, never skips a generation and Julie
experienced bittersweet joy when her six children, aged between 10 and
23, were given the all-clear of the hereditary condition that can cause
sudden death.
Julie said: "It may be that he started a new strain and the kids seem
to have escaped it, but it could also be that he never died of it at
all and we will never know what killed him.
"He was my soulmate, my best friend, lover and husband. Everyone tells
me how strong I am but sometimes I feel like lying on the floor and
screaming. But I had 23 years of a wonderful marriage and I have to go
on for the children's sake."