THE Sage Reading Half Marathon is taking place this weekend (Sunday, March 17), and some runners are using the event as a warm up for other challenges.

Sage Foundation VP Debbie Wall will be taking on the Three Peaks Challenge in Australia just a week after the half marathon, along with a number of her colleagues and Sage Foundation supporters.

Debbie said: "I'm fundraising for Cramlingham Voluntary Youth Project, the charity our CEO Steve Hare also supports.

"The charity does remarkable work helping young people with social and personal development.

"We’re all fundraising as hard as we can to make sure that the Sage Reading Half Marathon sees the achievement of our $1 Million Challenge, set by Steve Hare just over a year ago, when he urged all Sage group’s 13,000 colleagues to fundraise for grassroots causes close to their hearts.

"We are so close to achieving the target that every pound and penny really counts."

Sage Foundation unifies colleagues and partners in a global programme of corporate social philanthropy, transforming lives to support economic stability and social equality.

All 13,000 colleagues across 23 countries are encouraged to dedicate five Sage days a year to causes close to their hearts, through voluntary work and fundraising challenges.

In particular, the organisation is keen to take action to increase opportunities for fulfilment among young people, women, and military veterans to drive innovation, enhancing access to education, workforce development and exposure to entrepreneurship.

Debbie added: "Our fundraising efforts around the Sage Reading Half Marathon this year have introduced us at Sage Foundation to many new charities we are delighted to support.

"Our runners are heading to Reading from all over the country.

"So far we have runners from 11 charities supported by Sage Foundation, a group of runners from seven Sage business partner companies supporting even more charities, and our own Sage runners supporting charities close to their hearts.

"The Sage Reading Half Marathon’s contribution is a real peak in our year at Sage Foundation.

"Each year we support more than one thousand grassroots charities that focus on helping women, young people and veterans."