ONE HUNDRED Reading half-marathon runners will be donning a purple vest to raise money for the town’s special care baby unit next Sunday.

Last year, 19 people ran for the Babies in Buscot, or BIBS, charity that supports the work for premature and ill babies at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, raising £16,000. The money paid for a Hot-Cot water mattress.

With BIBS being one of the half-marathon’s official charities, the number of runners raising money has mushroomed to 100, some running for very personal reasons.

Veronika Royle’s oldest son Jacob spent time on the ward and she then experienced the trauma of having twins Faye and Aleka born eight weeks premature. The 37-year-old Charvil mum took up running last year and this year’s half marathon will be her second.

She said: “Because us parents of babies who spent time in Special Baby Care are SuperParents, and because the babies who spend days, hours, weeks or even months there are SuperBabies, I will be running as a SuperHero.”

David Jones, 34 of Caversham, said his motivation to raise money was that the ward had saved his daughter’s life.

He said: “I am running for my two kids who both had a tough start in life and are amazing little people.

“I am also running for the future families who find themselves needing support from Buscot.

“You can never predict needing the special care unit. However, when you do, you are forever grateful for the NHS, charities who support the NHS and the dedicated team and care provided.”

Lisa Saunders, 38, of Southcote, still remembers the terror of her son Callum arriving at 34 weeks and spending weeks on Buscot hooked up to a breathing machine and wires.

She is running for the charity and said: “After the weeks in Buscot, I owe the staff everything.

“Callum is now almost 6ft tall, and just about to celebrate his 16th birthday, and I couldn’t be more proud.”

Kathleen Sturgess, 47 of Tilehurst, said she took up running just a year ago and before hadn’t even run for a bus.

She said: “I wanted to join the team to give something back to BIBS. My son was born in 1988, six and a half weeks premature.

“I did Reading Half Marathon last year raising £600 for MacMillian nurses and thought I would raise money for BIBS next time and it is part of my training towards running solo at Endure24 later in the year. I can’t wait to run with the team.”

Around 18,500 runners are in the last week of preparations for the run with last practices being squeezed in.

For information about the race, where to park, what time to be at the starting line and the best place to watch from the sidelines get next week’s Reading Chronicle’s Pre-Race Supplement.