Hayley Whitehead-Wright Takes On Chester Half Marathon for Wales Air Ambulance
Hayley Whitehead-Wright will run the chester half marathon on May 17, and she is doing it to raise funds for the Wales Air Ambulance. The 39-year-old ITU nurse has called the training brutal, but the race is now the biggest challenge she has ever set herself.
Whitehead-Wright said the jump to 13.1 miles has changed the shape of her training. She is moving from runs that took about one hour to sessions that now take three hours, and she trains three or four times a week.
Four years ago, she joined the Wales Air Ambulance as a Patient Liaison Nurse at the after care service, while also working as an ITU nurse at Wrexham Maelor Hospital. She and colleague Jo Yeoman support patients and families after life-altering and sudden traumatic events, which ties her race directly to the work she sees away from the road.
Her running has not been a straight line. Whitehead-Wright started in 2025 to improve her wellbeing and unwind after work, beginning with sofa to 5K before adding Wrexham 10K and a few other events.
Whitehead-Wright and Chester Half Marathon
She said signing up for the Chester Half Marathon was the biggest challenge she had ever set herself, and she has been open about how hard the buildup has been. At one point, she said, she had a massive wobble, hated every second of the training and had to fight through it.
Whitehead-Wright also said she is not a natural runner. She posted her concerns about making the time in a Chester Half Marathon Facebook group, then got a strong response from other runners who shared the same worries.
Two women privately messaged her after that post, and they plan to meet up and encourage each other along the route. For Whitehead-Wright, that support sits alongside the fundraising goal, because she said this weekend’s event is more about achieving the distance and hitting her target for the Wales Air Ambulance than pace or speed.
Wales Air Ambulance Support
Her race also carries a personal edge because it links her own running progress with the charity she serves at work. The schedule is simple now: complete the half-marathon distance, keep her focus on the road, and turn the effort into money for Wales Air Ambulance.
Whitehead-Wright has documented her fitness journey on social media, but the main line has stayed the same. She started running to feel better after work, then pushed herself into a distance she had never attempted before, with the Chester Half Marathon set to show how far that decision has taken her.
