Some of you will know the story behind this ridiculous challenge and some won't. It all started last September when my friend Jess and I were sat in a pub (sober I hasten to add) and decided to do a Marathon. A quick search around, and a very quick refusal to entertain the idea of the Luton Marathon, led us to doing the Stockholm Marathon on June 5th 2010.
Now, training for this should have been enough of a challenge....but not for me! I decided at the start of the year that I would run 2010 miles in the year of 2010. This means 40 miles a week, every week for the year, or 5.5 miles everyday! And so this challenge began!
And so to the charity...the AF Foundation (the Andrew Flintoff Foundation). The AF Foundation is a children’s charity raising funds to build, develop and improve Child Rehabilitation & Physiotherapy Units throughout the UK. They have started with a £700,000 refurb of the Physio Unit at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool. I chose the Foundation partly because it is obviously quite closely linked to what I do, and also, as most of you will know, I know "Fred" Flintoff through work, and he's a bit of a legend so it seemed like a good cause to get behind!
It seems like an eternity since I wrote the first bit of this introduction to the challenge, but since then I have worked so hard and finally finished my 2010 challenge. I finished on the 20th November, 324 days after starting, having run for about 250 hours and used over 217,000 calories. It has been a real struggle to keep motivated and keep running all year, trying to fit it in round busy work days, holidays, and injuries, but I feel very proud that I have completed my challenge, and that I have raised a lot of money in the process thanks to the great people who have donated. I don't however, feel proud enough to contemplate 2011 miles in 2011.
It feels even more worthwhile because people like you have been kind enough to donate, for which I am truely grateful, and it will help the Andrew Flintoff Foundation continue with their great work.
Thank you to everyone who has donated...if you haven't yet, then please please please do...I'm still a long way from my target!!!
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So please dig deep and donate now.
