TEACHERS from St Mary's School in Menston ran the Leeds 10k on Sunday (July 20) in memory of a much-loved colleague who lost her battle with cancer earlier this year.

Twenty-five teachers from the school ran in memory of Mo Hooley, and have so far raised more than £4,000 for charity Sue Ryder.

Their challenge started with a Facebook comment by one teacher and before long, a whole team of similarly unfit teachers had joined her in the challenge.

Since then, the group has trained hard and was looking forward to running the race.

The group is raising money for Sue Ryder who provided invaluable care and support to Mo and her family in her last weeks.

A JustGiving page for Team-Teachers has been set up www.justgiving.com/team-teachers where donations can be made. At the last count, more than £4,000 had been raised, with payments still flooding in.

Despite the heat, all the group ran brilliantly, running the course together and all finishing - an incredible achievement considering that many had only started running when the challenge was announced in February.

Many of the group have already signed up for the Abbey Dash in November and hope that the Leeds 10k will become an annual event in the school calendar for Team-Teachers.

Maths teacher, Joanne Lyons, said: "It has been amazing. We have become fitter, lost weight and given each other incredible support, not to mention raising more money than we ever could have hoped - all in Mo’s memory.

"I think she would have been proud of us. The pupils and parents of the school have also been very supportive as everyone loved Mo - she was a valued, respected and amazing chemistry teacher and was a wonderful, caring person”.