Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Some of you very kindly helped me raise £3,500 in 2013 for a Ultra Marathon that I did not subsequently compete in as I had to have a knee operation.  Well, I’ve rehabbed pretty well (Lazarus like recovery - my surgeon said I’d never run 100 miles despite the operation being a success) and am entered for the South Downs Way 100 on 13/14 June 2015.  It’s pretty brutal , taking about 28 hours to get from Winchester to Eastbourne in one go with 12,000 feet of climbing…… ‘downs’ aren’t mountains but they’re not molehills either!  Your money given in 2013 was money well spent by the Home and if you feel able to support them again please do donate.  Thank you again.

Firstly – thank you so much for your donation.  You and your fellow sponsors have all been really generous; raising £3,500 for the Guernsey Cheshire Homes so far.  They will really appreciate your kindness.

 

All of this makes the next bit that much more difficult. A fairly ‘routine’ injury that I picked a few weeks ago (see a couple of my posts to the justgiving page) has turned into something more serious and I’m having an MRI scan on my left knee to find out what’s going on.  Running 2 miles causes my knee to swell up and I’m limping about, so 100 miles is completely out of the question – even with a cortisone injection.

 

Whilst I am scratching this run, I am more determined than ever to do a 100 mile off-road race as soon as I’m able, but I suspect that it’ll be a few months from now. So, this is a postponement not a cancellation.  In some ways, this kind of setback reminds me why the Cheshire Home is such a good cause; while this injury is irritating and inconvenient, it is tiny compared to the daily challenges that the Cheshire Homes residents face.

 

I hope that you can bear with me and thanks for your continued support – and now patience.  You’ll hear from me again no doubt! J

 

All the best,

 

Barrie/Baz/Bazza

 

 

Those of you that know me will be aware that I am a pretty normal 50 year old bloke with a wonderful wife – Odette – and three lively Children – Theo, 15, Edward, 13 and Marguerite, 12.  We’re all active and my passion is running – no skill needed – and I’ve kept myself in decent shape since Theo was born, mainly spurred on by my desire to follow my father and play competitive sport with my kids.  That ambition is now being realised as I have recently run a 5K race with Theo (he beat me by 1 second!) and will be playing cricket with both sons this summer.

As I’ve got older, I have found that running long distances on trails much more interesting that shorter distances on roads where the clock is my enemy.  This has led me to run a few races in England, France and Switzerland in excess of 50k, usually through mountain passes and over hills and down valleys.  This year, I am aiming to complete my longest run to date – 100 miles in one go – by taking on the Ultra-trail South West on 21 and 22 June 2013.  Whichever way I slice it, this is going to take me more than 24 hours, running across Bodmin moor during the night and up and down cliff paths on the south and then north Cornwall coats for the rest of the time.  I expect this to take me to the edge of my mental and physical abilities and I’m by no means confident that I’ll finish.

That’s one of the reasons that I’ve decided to team up with the staff and residents at Guernsey Cheshire Home (GCH) in the hope of raising funds to help them carry on their fantastic work – that’s where you come in.  During my training (a solitary and selfish pursuit) I have often thought that following a higher goal of helping others will also help me and it’s fitting that GCH should be my partner.

Many of you will know that GCH assist severely physically handicapped people in Guernsey live as close to a normal life as possible; allowing them to do things that you or I take for granted.  Indeed, for some of my peers, running for an hour on the beautiful cliff paths of Guernsey requires some effort or planning, but I’m lucky and can do that with just a little determination. For many of the people that are assisted by the staff at GCH, just getting up in the morning and having breakfast requires significant effort, through no fault of their own.  That’s just not fair and I want us to do something to help them loive as normal lives as possible.

If you sponsor me this will help them in their efforts to live the normal lives that we enjoy, rewarding them for their determination to overcome their disadvantages.

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. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.