Caroline Frith

I had the joy of working with Caroline at the Highbury branch of Goddards over many years. She was a great Vet and colleague and I always knew our patients were in good hands. She was such a good surgeon and inspired me to improve my wound closures - her cat spays were so neat! Caroline’s fundraising and support of Bart’s Maggie’s, a place that helped us both so much, was such an incredible feat. She was also the best super sub when my partner had to pull out of the London tri run leg xx Louise

When I first met Caroline at a local church playgroup, when she was pregnant and I was in the throes of having a newborn and a toddler, little did I know how much our lives would intertwine. We were neighbours and mums at first, meeting up at the various local playgroups. It was clear to me, long before I knew anything about running (and before I even knew Caroline was a runner) that she was an amazing woman. She took no nonsense from anyone, but she was also incredibly down to earth and real. I loved that about her. Over the years, as I started jogging home from work and she would spot me out running, she began talking to me more about running too. She often tried to persuade me to join ELR, but I couldn’t be convinced! Whilst I was seriously impressed by her achievements, running to me at the time, was something I did purely for a bit of fitness. Then I started doing parkrun and our lives overlapped a little more. I continued to ignore her requests to join ELR - and then eventually had to admit to her that I’d joined Loughton AC instead! Don''t think she held it against me ;-) Without ever knowing it, one of the posts Caroline wrote on her blog about taking opportunities and making the most of life came along at exactly the right time for me. Graham and I had been umming and ahhing about whether we should leave our late-teenage children at home for a week while we went on a running holiday that I really wanted to do. I read Caroline’s post and thought, basically, sod it - we’re doing it. And we did. It was an amazing holiday. Caroline also encouraged me, again without ever knowing it, to take the running opportunities that came my way rather than finding reasons not to. To enter the race. To say yes to the scary opportunities. Given my own recent breast cancer diagnosis, I am so grateful to her for that. I just so wish she were still here. I will miss her enormously, and I will always be grateful that our lives intertwined.

Such a strong lady, such a fantastic mother, and such a wonderful partner to Ian. Caroline and Ian put me up before the London marathon. She made sure I didn’t drink! Or did she? I snuck out for a beer. She will be running forever x

It has been a blessing to have shared part of this journey with Caroline. She exuded positivity and optimism even through her hardest battle. A person departs, but their deeds and words live on in those they leave behind. I feel deeply grateful for the treasure Caroline has left us in personifying 'perseverance'.