On Your Marks... Get Set... Run Sprocket, Run!
On 25th April 2010 I will be running the London Marathon (my first ever full marathon) which I hope to finish in 4 hours.
Good dog, Sprocket
For six months before that, starting in November, my dog Sprocket and I will be following a gruelling training regime of early morning runs, hill repeats, sprint workouts, mile repeats, interval training, 20 miler training runs, and most of this will be through the Canadian winter!
Sprocket has pledged her support and will be joining me for most of the 700+ miles of training, even though she won't be able to join me on race day.
We're doing this to raise money for the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) a charity whose work is very close to both of our hearts, as Sprocket spent the first few years of her life in shelters and foster homes, before being adopted by me and my partner Mark in February 2009.
Our fund-raising target is £1500 (Can$2600) and we need your support to get there, it's not a huge amount but it will make a BIG difference to the lives of many animals world wide.
As the U.K's foremost animal welfare charity the RSPCA is best known for it's work to rescue and rehabilitate and rehome domestic animals and wildlife in the U.K as well as educating the public and campaigning about animal welfare and conservation issues. In addition to this the RSPCA also runs and supports several animal welfare projects throughout the world.
As most of you will know, Sprocket came from a shelter, without the amazing work of organisations like the RSPCA, dogs like Sprocket wouldn't get a second chance in life. In order to continue saving and rehoming unwanted animals, the RSPCA needs our support and your help!
The money we raise will go towards supporting their network of UK shelters, animal inspectors, education program and campaigns as well as helping to support their international projects. such as providing training, guidance and support to small scale direct action welfare groups overseas. By supporting us you are not just helping animals in the UK, but all over the world.
It’s not just 26.2 miles!
In exchange for your support, Sprockett and I are not just promising to run 26.2 miles… it’s so much more than that! Our training should see us running roughly 700 miles in 6 months, which will involve mentally taxing long slow runs, physically taxing hill repeats and just plain awful interval workouts at the track. Don’t get me started on the core work, weight training or yoga!
The training will involve early mornings, even early Sunday mornings (which will be more of an issue for Sprocket as she is not a fan of running before 8am), and probably late nights and it will mostly be during the winter. Brrrrr.
Ours is a treacherous road…
… and we can’t wait to get started.
Visit our website
Pay us a visit at http://www.runsprocketrun.webs.com/, where you can find everything you need to know about the race, the cause, our mission and our training. We’ll be keeping you posted on how our training successes and (mis)adventures with our training blog, and would love to hear from you in our guestbook.
Every little helps (and big helps too!)
This will be a truly international campaign – not just trans-atlantic – for a worthy international cause. In this day and age charities like the RSPCA need our help more than ever before.
Every donation will go a long way to help us reach our goals, no matter how small. Whatever you choose to sponsor us will be appreciated by us and by the animals that will benefit in the long run.
We are more than happy to discuss ‘deals’ and mutually beneficial arrangements, just let us know your ideas (nothing rude please!).
You can help us greatly by telling your friends, family, colleagues, bus drivers, dentists and anyone else who might listen about our adventures and mission - if you let me know I can send you an emails and posters to help you spread the word.
We are eternally grateful to you for your support.
Love and slobbers
Lex and Sprocket
x
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
So please dig deep and donate now.
