Super Sara Cox has raised a phenomenal grand total of £10,169,084 for Children In Need, of which an approximate £35,000 was generously contributed to the buckets from the sidelines en route, as revealed by Scott Mills on BBC Radio 2’s Breakfast Show.
A thrilled Sara said: “Oh my god, we done the £10m…I can’t believe it. You absolute legends, that’s incredible! Oh my gosh, thank you so much. That’s going to change and help so many lives, so many kids, thank you so much!”
A BBC TV crew followed Sara’s journey every step of the way for an exclusive behind-the-scenes appeal film, Sara Cox: Every Step of the Way for Children In Need, which airs on BBC One on Wednesday 19th November at 8pm, and it will be available to view from 6am on BBC iPlayer.
Speaking live on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show with Scott Mills this morning, Sara said: “It was a lot tougher than I ever expected and the recovery was much tougher. I don’t know what I was thinking. I was thinking ‘oh I will get home and Saturday and Sunday I will probably just take the dogs for a gentle walk’. I can’t really walk!”
Scott: My heart broke for you when I saw you on Friday night on Children In Need in the crocs.
Sara: I had to put the crocs on and even that was a squeeze. I had to really wrestle my crocs on because my feet have a lot of fluid on them and you know… You know when you have the flu and at the end you make a brew and you are wiped out? I am like that.
Sara crossed the finish line in Pudsey, West Yorkshire, on Friday afternoon, conquering her gruelling 135-mile Great Northern Marathon Challenge for Children in Need.
After crossing the finish line, Sara revealed to Scott Mills and Radio 2 listeners that music got her through the challenge: “I would like to thank Chase and Status and Stormzy for Backbone. And I’d like to apologise to my son because on telly, if it stays on the documentary, I am singing that song quite a lot and it’s so cringe. So I am so sorry to my kids. We spend a lot of time playing brilliant music on Radio 2… I was singing along at one point like a mad woman, singing along to Blur, and all sorts just to try and push through.”
Sara also reflected on her response to a good luck message from Prince William (see his message below):
Scott – “You weren’t expecting Prince William on Friday were you?”
Sara – “I think I said ‘big up your bad self’ to the future king, can I apologise now? It was lovely, it was amazing.”
Sara talked to Scott about the physical challenges she has faced and how she is feeling now:
Sara: “I can’t promise there won’t be tears on Wednesday. I am all over the place if I am honest. I have been chatting to Nick the physio a lot over the last couple of days, asking him questions; Is this normal? Should my feet be like this? And it’s been really helpful. There is stuff going on that I didn’t realise. They kept feeling my ankle bones and they were just checking, him and Ian the medic, that I didn’t have stress fractures in my feet or they…but the pain was so bad and the swelling was so big, they were checking I wasn’t breaking my own legs while I was running. I am so glad they didn’t mention that. I just thought it was shin splints and my body was swelling up to stop me running. My body was like ok stop running now but I just had to crack on and I couldn’t have done it without anybody on the side of the road. It was dark and rainy and icy cold and you would be in the middle of nowhere like and suddenly would emerge…like six people, cowering in the rain with a home-made sign that was all soggy in the rain and they were incredible.”
Scott Mills spoke to Radio 2 listener Dorothy, who Sara praised during her Great Northern Marathon Challenge for kindly lending her bathroom, Dorothy tells Scott and Sara: “Well nothing really. Just let her use the loo. She would have come over what people would have described as mountains but it was fog, wind, rain…she had gone through all that and in the end she asked, having to take her shoes off, to go to the toilet and I thought that is horrendous to have to do that. She has come all this way to have to bend down and take her shoes off to put them back on again.”
On Friday, Oxford Circus London underground station installed a special “allontheboard” board, renaming Oxford Circus to “Coxford Circus”, honouring and celebrating Sara’s Children In Need Challenge.
In the afternoon at the finish line, Sara told Scott: “I can’t believe it, oh my gosh, that was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I can’t believe it.” Scott asked Sara: “What is going on in your head right now?”
Sara said: “It’s just the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I’ve never known pain like it but then I’ve never had eye contact with so many amazing women as I’ve run along. It just powered me on just like… at the side of the road, in the driving rain, it was bitterly cold, it was wet and filthy and just so many people came out. The truck drivers honking their horns, the farmers stopping work to come and say hi. The kids by the side of the road. Loads of homemade signs […] It’s just been the maddest, most painful, wonderful thing I’ve ever, ever done.”
Melanie C was also at the finish line to celebrate Sara’s incredible achievement and performed two songs live on Radio 2, Northern Star and a medley of Spice Girls hits, Say You’ll Be There and Spice Up Your Life.
Before Sara arrived, Melanie C said: “It’s like we’re taking every step with her. I feel quite emotional already. And yeah, I just think this is one of those… It’s incredible what she’s achieved and I just, I can’t wait for her to cross that finish line. […] Could Sporty have done it? I’d like to think so, but I’m not sure […] This is testament to humans, you know, we are all capable of so much more than we realise and Sara’s our poster girl for that.”
Throughout her journey, Sara received hundreds of messages of support. Prince William shared a heartwarming special video message to motivate Sara as she embarked on the final day. Prince William said: “Sara, massive congratulations for what you are doing. You are so nearly there, just a little bit further. I know the people of Pudsey will all come out and welcome you with huge open arms, big hugs…and hopefully, lots of your favourite crumpets. Keep going. You’ve done fantastically well, and the nation is so proud of you.”
You can listen back to Sara’s full interview with Scott Mills on Radio 2 here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002m2hs (at 99 minutes in)
