Well what a fantastic experience!! It’s difficult to put into words what running a marathon feels like – heaven and hell all rolled into one! The whole occasion is very emotional. You really do feel like crying when there are complete strangers lining the streets shouting your name, willing you to succeed. There are bands en route, people hanging out of houses playing music - a real carnival. What a spectacle of human determination, celebration and kindness!
We are so, so glad that we did it. I can’t pretend that the training was easy or always enjoyable but it really paid off on the day and allowed me to really enjoy the occasion. I really think that the fact that I was running for my Dad and the whole atmosphere had a really uplifting effect on me because I actually found it easier than our longest 18 mile training runs! Very surreal! Poor Mike had a less happy experience as he got terrible cramp at mile 16. Fortunately I had my “everything but the kitchen sink” bum bag and I was able to help him out with some Nurofen which kept him going for a bit but the last 2 miles were agony for him. He kept telling me to leave him and carry on but I couldn’t do that to him - he would never have done it to me if I was suffering. Quite ironic really as all through the training we thought it would be him supporting me and it turned out to be the other way round! As a result we were a bit off our target time of 4:30 – 4:45 and came in at 5 hours, 1 min and 29 secs. Bit gutted we only just missed breaking the 5 hour mark but c’est la vie. The main thing is WE DID IT!!!! J
One target we did smash however was our fundraising sum of £3,300 and that's all thanks to our wonderfully kind and generous supporters. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! I think that my Dad would have been proud of us all ........ x
Hi everyone - thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page.
We shall be competing in our first ever marathon at the appropriately named Virgin London Marathon 2010 on 25th April. Our aim is to raise as much money as possible for Bowel Cancer . Bowel Cancer is a national charity which aims to save lives by raising awareness of bowel cancer, campaigning for best treatment and care and providing practical support and advice.
This charity is especially close to our hearts as Gill's dad Albert died of this terrible disease at the age of 33 on , when Gill was just 7.
Gill explains our motivation to run 26 miles and 385 yards together:
"Losing my dad to bowel cancer was the hardest thing that I’ve had to endure in life and even though 37 years have passed since his death I still miss him every day. As I was only 7 when my dad died I didn’t have many chances to make him proud of me but I know that he would be proud if he could have seen me achieve this and I know that he will be with me every step of the way.
6 years ago I ran a 5K Race For Life on my dad's birthday in his memory. Running this race was a very emotional experience and I really surprised myself by coming 20th out of more than 4,000 runners in a time of just under 20 minutes! I have no idea how I achieved this and I sincerely believe that thinking about my dad and why I was running the race really boosted my performance and enabled me to summon strength and reserve that I didn't even know I had. To this day I find the memory of that race very surreal and I am hoping the same emotions will get me through the London Marathon.
I have posted a couple of photographs of my dad Albert on this page to help make his memory more tangible. The first is of him and my mum Cherry as young newly-weds and the second is the only photograph in existence in which I am actually touching my dad (I'm the one cuddling his leg). I only have 3 photos of me with him in total and this very poor, grainy picture is my most treasured possession.
Bowel cancer cut short the life of a funny, kind, gentle husband and father and devasted our family. Mike and I hope that any money we are able to raise will help to prevent another family having to suffer the same fate."
Bowel Cancer Facts and Statistics
• Bowel cancer is a disease of the large bowel (made up of the colon and rectum). It is also sometimes called colorectal or colon cancer
• More than 37,500 men and women are diagnosed with bowel cancer in the every year, making it the third most common cancer; that's someone every 15 minutes
• Bowel cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in the and more than 16,000 people die each year; that's someone every 30 minutes
• 97% of all diagnoses are in people over the age of 50
• If diagnosed at the earliest stage, bowel cancer is highly treatable, with a survival rate of more than 80% over five years
The ultimate race for any British runner has to be the London Marathon and we are so grateful that Bowel Cancer have given us two of their valuable Golden Bond places in the 2010 race. In return we aim to raise as much money and awareness as possible and we can only do this with the help of our family, friends and colleagues.
We sincerely hope that you will find it in your heart to support our efforts and maybe together we can prevent other families, maybe even your family, from having to suffer the pain and loss that our family has suffered.
Our target is £3,300, which is £100 for every full year of Albert's life. We would be so grateful if you could help us to achieve this in his memory.
In addition to your sponsorship we shall also be organising other fund raising activities to achieve our target.
So please, please dig deep and donate now.
Cheers
PS
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 Bowel Cancer and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - we raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
