Hello,

My nephew, William, was born in March 2009 to my sister in law, Liz and brother in law, Dave. At first William seemed well, but at 11 days old life dramatically changed when he was diagnosed with a rare and life threatening liver disease called Biliary Atresia. This is a condition where there are no bile ducts from the liver allowing bile to drain.  At 21 days old William underwent 8 hours of surgery called the Kasai procedure to try and imrove his situation. At this stage Liz and Dave were told that there was a 66% chance he will need a liver transplant at some time in his life.  After a very difficult and emotional 2 weeks they left hospital not knowing if the operation would work and what the future held for William. At this uncertain time the Childrens Liver Disease Foundation (CLDF) were there for support and information. There is no cure for Biliary Atresia and the CLDF carry out crucial research into this disease. 

The work of the CLDF has had a huge impact on our family and for this reason I want to raise money for them to enable them to continue to provide support to families and carry out their invaluable research.

Near the end of 2009 I decided that I would like to do something to raise money for this charity as it is so close to my heart. At the time I was hoping that I would be able to do something within my comfort zone like 24 hour chocolate eating or a sponsored sleep, but this was not to be. So on Sunday 21st March 2010 I will be running all 13.1miles the Fleet Half Marathon. Yes - you read it right - me - running - for fun!!!  However, after the idea sank in I think that a small amount of pain for me is totally worth while if it means raising money for the CLDF.

It is now the start of Feburary and the training is going very well, thanks especially to Adam, who is the manager of my local gym / running partner / torturer. Without his support and belief I think I would have chickened out by now. Helen and Lauren have been great, allowing me to train when needed and putting up with my smell when I come back from a run. Apart from the odd bit of pain here and there everything is going very well. All I need now is your support!!

And a very special thank you needs to go to a very brave 11 month old little man, who everytime he see's me gives a smile that says "Thank you, I know you can do it Uncle Mark". William is just appraoching his first birthday and as you can see from the attached pictures he is thriving.

8th March, first day back to work after my week off skiing. I went with good intentions of getting a run in whilst away, but the booze, food and skiing took over, so this did not happen. Yesterday, on a nice sunny cold March morning, Adam and I ran 7 miles, it was very hard going. Seems that although skiing has helped in certain ways, it is never the same as actaully running!! Bring on this week, have couple of 11 miles booked in and a 6 mile. Will keep you posted.

15th March. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, what have I let myself in for!!! The reality of this challenge has just started to sink in, however with everyones kind support I am now at 88% of target. I know I can do, but right now the emmosion of the whole thing seems to be getting to me. On the plus side it is a beautiful day and hopefully after the 13 miles I am going to run later I should bee much better and more confident!!

17th March. Happy 1st Birthday William. It's the little fella's 1st B'day today, we all hope he has a good one. Monday's training was a disaster, I set off to quick, ran out of puff and gave up. For the first 4 miles I recorded my best mile times mile after mile, good in one way, but it meant I was burnt out by 11 miles and walked home, head held very low. Am feeling a lot more possitive today, going for a light workout this afternoon and to get out names put on our tops. 4 days to go 104% of target acheived. Wow this is actually going to happen!!!

21st March. We did it!!!! Wow, that has got to be the hardest challenge I have ever risen to. Adam and I did it in 2h 14m 33s. We are both very tired and worn out and need of lots of stretching.

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