'Mum on the Run'

The many faces of me! Mother, wife, fundraiser, campaigner, Tesco Charity Mum of the Year, marathon runner, writer, motivational speaker,....... 

Very simply, it's a campaign to raise as much money as possible by running for a year around Scotland, spreading the word about epilepsy, the Muir Maxwell Trust, fundraising and the challenge of overcoming difficulties in the face of adversity. I will run anywhere and everywhere, calling in a long the way to businesses, schools, clubs, conferences - anywhere I can get an audience.

The campaign will be high profile and will attract media exposure and the support of sporting and other celebrities. As well as spreading the word about complex epilepsy syndromes and their impact on family life, the campaign will hopefully raise much needed funds for the Muir Maxwell Trust to continue providing practical support to children with epilepsy and their families. It will also serve as training for the Virgin Money London Marathon which will be the climax of our campaign year in April 2014.

As a small charity the Muir Maxwell Trust gets just one charity place every five years for the Virgin Money London marathon and 2014 is our year. In order to make the most of this much coveted charity place I have decided to run the London Marathon myself, in tandem with this ambitious campaign. The campaign is ambitious in another way too - in 2006 I was diagnosed with a brain tumour, bone cancer in my head which will never go away. You cannot see it but increasingly I am managing the consequences of cranial nerve damage affecting my hearing, vision, swallowing, breathing and heart rate to varying degrees. Once upon a time I was a good runner and I have run my share of marathons, including the Athens Marathon in 2010 but running presents a different challenge for me nowadays.  Nonetheless, I am determined to run and run and run this year for children like our 16 year old son Muir, after whom the Trust is named, who is so profoundly damaged by a severe epilepsy syndrome called Dravet Syndrome.

Look out for me as I run Scotland. Please support our fundraising in whatever way you can. Run with me if you would like to. If you are inspired then embrace a challenge of your own on our behalf. Let's smash this almighty target of £100,000 and put complex epilepsy on the map in the UK for once and for all, as a very serious condition that requires unending support and investment in health, education and social care if children like Muir have any hope of some quality of life.

Be inspired. Follow me on twitter @muirmaxwell and @anniimaxx or on facebook at Muir Maxwell Trust. Or visit our website for more information about our work at www.muirmaxwelltrust.com

See you on the road!

UPDATE

If you have been following my updates below you will be aware that Cappy Smaill ran the London Marathon in my place for the Muir Maxwell Trust on Sunday 13 April in a very respectable time of just 4 hours and 10 minutes. I made the decision in January that the Marathon distance was too far for me. Although my training has been maintained my breathing was occasionally a struggle beyond 13 miles. At the risk of stressing cranial nerves I decided to resort to Plan B and invite friend and retired soldier Scotty Scott to run for MMT - but he was injured and by the end of January he had not managed to overcome his injury. I was therefore immensely grateful and hugely relieved when Anna Smaill (of MMT) informed me that her daughter had been training in the hope of a place in the Marathon. We signed her up immediately and the rest as they say is history.  From here Cappy has he own story to tell and her Blog is below for you to read. It only remains for me to say thank you to Cappy and also to our generous sponsors. The running continues and so do the races and also my visits to schools to tell the MMT story. Money continues to be raised for us and so this page will remain open for a while. We are at £60k. Perhaps we will still achieve our goal of £100k. Either way it is a phenomenal result.

Ann 

Cappy's London Marathon Blog

So many of us no doubt mention the thought of completing a marathon to tick it off the famous bucket list, and I decided that 2014 would be the year for me. In theory I was hoping that youth would be on my side and this was the best time to face the challenge. 

Many people know me as a bit of a sports fanatic. Playing a range of sports from cricket, hockey, lacrosse, tennis... you name it and I’ll probably give it a go. However, running...that was never something I enjoyed or was good at. Merely just did it to keep fit...Until, my housemates peer pressured me into completing the Cardiff Half Marathon while at University. The buzz on race day had a contagious effect and proved to me that running can actually be fun! 

So, mid 2013 I set out to complete the London Marathon. Numerous evenings were spent dragging myself out on windy and wet training runs, slowly clocking up the miles. It soon became normal to casually run 13 miles mid week without even thinking. In return this meant sore muscles but on the flip side excess guilt free eating! 

It came to January and I found out I was lucky enough to run for the Muir Maxwell Trust. A fantastic charity which having seen it develop over the years I was honoured to be their only runner taking part in the London Marathon. The daily hard work and passion of the Muir Maxwell Trust has resulted in huge steps forward in epileptic care. Meanwhile it continuously excels in making key improvements for patients and families. With this in mind, training appeared to keep pushing forward and the thought of the marathon went from being a distant goal to an exciting prospect. 

Along the way I was spurred on by the overwhelming amount of charitable donations. Friends and family were exceptionally generous, and the only way I could return my thanks would be to lend my legs to run a lot of miles on the 13th April. 

It’s safe to say I was a bundle of nerves in the lead up to the Marathon. Little niggles started to creep in and fear of not finishing. My mind was focused on one thing, completing the race meanwhile everything else seemed to go out of the window! 

Standing at the start line on possibly the sunniest day of the summer so far, the amount of excited energy was exceptional. Runners were either on mute or busy chatting to those around them sharing their stories. I had opted for some interesting running gear. Yes, I was wearing ridiculous socks and the fetching bum belt. But if it meant I’d be in one piece at the finish line I was willing to take the fashion risk. However, I was wearing my Muir Maxwell Trust vest with pride and passion. 

The first 13 miles went within a blink of an eye. The support was exceptional, from the start through to the finish line. The amount of supporters cheering  you on when your head was starting to go down, stocking you up with excessive amounts of jelly babies and just being totally fab in general was unreal. 

Undoubtedly, having my family and close friends there on the day was a big help and gave me a boost at the tricky 20-23 mile mark were the quads started to scream with pain. Come mile 23 the end was near, and meeting Leigh Halfpenny (Welsh rugby player/drop dead gorgeous man! :) ) certainly kept me moving forwards! 

Crossing the finish line was a feeling that is hard to sum up in words. It’s simply just awesome in every sense. All the miles clocked up.  All the support. All the psychological games in your head telling you to keep going. I’d done it! 

And now stopping and trying to move again became very difficult. It probably wasn’t until a day later that the emotions all sank in. I most certainly was riding on the wave of adrenaline straight afterwards. A good burger was practically inhaled and the celebratory glass of champagne went straight to the head!

Donations kept coming in even after the marathon. Although I increasingly started to walk with the gait of an 80 year old granny, struggled to get off from toilet seats and developed a massive fear of the sight of stairs (all due to extremely sore quads). The thought of the amount raised for The Muir Maxwell Trust was fantastic. 

A huge thank you should go to all those who have kindly supported me along the journey. Without all of you I wouldn’t have been able to be involved in such a fantastic experience that will remain with me for many years to come. 

So one down on the bucket list....two days later I began contemplating the next challenge...

Catherine Smaill

May 2014 

 

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