Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
On 18 January 2010, close friends of mine, Briony and Tony, lost their gorgeous little boy, Matthew, having been diagnosed with a brain tumour in May 2009, he was just 3 years old. They also have their lovely son, Samuel, who had his 8 birthday 2 days before Matthew died.
With such good friends suffering such a tragedy, I felt a mixture of guilt, as I and my husband Steve have 3 healthy children, and also a sense of helplessness, as I am only able to offer support at the end of a telephone as we now live at opposite ends of the country.
So…..my inspirational friend and neighbour, Liz, who also lost her son Harry, to neuroblastoma when he was only 2, has taken on the challenge of training me, a totally unfit, non-runner, to run the Jane Tomlinson 10k in York on 1 August 2010, which Liz tells me is apparently only going to take us 1 hour to complete!! I am keeping a training diary at the bottom of this page so you can see how much needs to be done! If you read this, you will see that two other good friends of mine and Bri's - Rachael Donavon and Amanda Richardson have also decided to take on the challenge and travel from various parts of the country to York to torture themselves!! To be honest, I would rather just pop round to Bri and Tony's house every week and give them a hug, but as that isn't practical - the 10k it is!!!
I have chosen to raise money from this challenge (not an understatement!) for the Alexander Devine Children’s Cancer Trust (link: www.ADCCT.com). This Trust partly funded the invaluable community nurse who helped care for Matthew at home, after it was discovered that the intensive chemotherapy hadn’t worked. Also, the long term aim of the Trust is to build and fund a Children’s Hospice service in the Berkshire Area. Currently, the nearest hospice is in and although it is an amazing place and is where Matthew died, it is about an hour to an hour and a half’s drive from many places in .
Training Diary
I am aiming to train about 3 times a week, so this is just a milestone log!
2 March: First Run – Managed to run to the end of my street (0.2 miles) before I had to walk (not good!). Couldn’t speak or stand up by the time I got home!
21 March: 1 mile – Megan, my 10 year old daughter kindly entered us both into the Sport Relief Mile. We both ran the whole way without stopping or walking.
21 April: Ran 2 miles in just over 20 minutes. However, I haven’t quite managed the 2 miles without a little walk, but today it was only a very little walk and I managed to keep running after a hill (big achievement!)
29th April: Have run just over 3 miles (5k) - in the pouring rain, through puddles and muddy tracks. That's half way! I only walked a very short bit and it took us about 35 mins. So maybe Liz's target of running the 10k is possible!
30th April: My legs ache!!
4th May: Fantastic news, another good friend, Rachael Donovan (Campbell in her unmarried days), that Bri and I used to live with in our student days in Coventry, has signed up for the run too - and I think Rache is as unfit as me, so an equally gruelling challenge. Apparrently her husband Paul, like Steve, laughed too: - we'll show them Rache! Rachael and Paul and their little boy Patrick are travelling up from Hertfordshire especially, so that's another challenge - not drinking the night before the race!
10th May: Even more good news, another close friend, Amanada Richardson, that also used to live with us in Cov has also signed up and is coming to join us, and she is at a wedding in Lancashire the night before!! What an unlikley group we make - well Liz and Rache have long legs so they have an advantage! No offence but Mand only has little legs...
14th May: Oh my word - Liz is upping the distance - 4 miles today and I have a cold! Also as Friday is meant to be my cleaning day as no work - I had to come home and clean the house after that!
16th May: Liz was away this weekend so no trainer, so Meg very kindly came out with me on her bike and we did 4 and a half miles : she was very good at chatting to me and when I was about to walk near the end I heard her shout "Keep running" so I did as I was told - you don't want to get on the wrong side of a 10 year old girl, believe me!!!! I might take her out again!
21st May: Liz and I tried to run the 4 and a half mile loop in the really hot weather - it was hideous and I had to walk loads - hope it's not like that on Aug 1st!
25th June: I didn't give up after the last update but had a bit of a lull in training over half-term - we went camping with Bri and Tony and Samuel and had a fab time. Today Liz took me out on a route that was just under 7 miles door to door!!!!!!!!!! We started well but it was again really hot. We managed the first 3.2 miles in 35 mins although we were a bit slower after that with numerous stops. It was a struggle to walk upto school this afternoon! Meg and I are doing the the 5k Race for Life on Sunday at York Racecourse, so hope my legs are working by then as aim to run that non-stop - we'll see!
27th June: Managed to run the Race for Life in 30 mins - despite the ridiculous heat!
1st July: Exactly one month to go and major breakthrough. Liz and I ran 5 miles (8k) in 55 mins with only one tiny weeny little walk - I'm feeling confident now!
9th July: 10k in 1 hour and 6 mins!! Three weeks to speed up by 6 mins!
1st August - Race Day! : Wow!!! All four of us ran the whole way without a stop - Rache in 1 hr 8 mins, Mand in 1 hr and 9 minutes and me and Liz in 1hr 11mins. Didn't manage to speed up - but we ran it all - though don't think I would have made it without Liz who had to take me by the hand to get me over the finish line. Time to hang the shoes up for a few weeks!
