WOW!!! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME - that's  !!! OVER £11,500 !!! - in 3 hours, 46 minutes and 37 seconds !!!

It's been a great experience and I could not have done it without all of YOU. Your support and generosity has been FANTASTIC and has buoyed me all the way through. So THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU from me, Marie Curie Cancer Care and the Daffodil Team.

Best Bits: high-fiving all the kids on the way to Tower Bridge; at mile 20 realising I could beat 4 hours if I ran the last 6 miles in under an hour; after the Finish being reunited with my family, getting a leg massage courtesy of Marie Curie and drinking very cold champagne in the garden ...

Things I'd rather forget: the portaloos (don't ask); Watching a young good looking bloke hit "the Wall" … horrid;  looping round Canary Wharf 3 times, then heading EAST again; that blister at mile 22

Enduring Images: emerging from the underpass onto the Embankment home stretch - like entering Wembley Stadium!; passing a donkey (or what looked very like one) with 385 yards to go; everyone moving in slow motion after the finish line - as though we were all on the Moon; collapsed runners wrapped in foil with their legs sticking out - like chicken drumsticks; 

The core mission of Marie Curie Cancer Care is very dear to my heart; that my parents were able to stay in their own beloved home to live out their last years and months, was of inestimable importance to them and of lasting value to our whole family. Marie Curie nurses allow terminally ill patients to do just this, dramatically enhancing the quality of life and care not only for patients, but also their carers and all those who are close to them. It is a wonderful service requiring the most intense levels of hands-on care, support and compassion from the highly trained and dedicated Marie Curie nursing team - I for one want to help keep them reaching as many patients as possible across the UK. 

And if you're thinking of sponsoring me and havent quite got round to it --- don't be shy --- every single penny is precious

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 and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Thanks so much again !

love

Jane

 

PS: For those who are remotely interested in the trials and tribulations of the long distance runner-in-training, here are some earlier entries ...

6 April 2010  okay okay so I managed to twist my knee on the last run of the run day of the holiday after a boozy lunch. I blame Paddy - "let's not go mad" he said - hah!  At least it wasn't too bad so several ice packs, nurofen and Easter eggs later I am raring to go ... Shanks pony it is ... 

25th March 2010 Even if I break my leg skiing next week I will be going round in a wheelchair after all the the money you have raised for me for Marie Curie Cancer Care ("Skiing?" I hear you ask, "Are you mad? - 'Tis an heretical act for a runner" okayokay but a girl's gotta have some fun to break the monotony of training ...)

20th February 2010 Glad to say the training is more or less back on track (despite that pesky labrador).  I completed my first ever half marathon last week (Watford - quite fun actually) and ran a half decent time for a "veteran" (which in marathon lingo means old, not experienced). So despite the fact I am finding it EXTREMELY hard to get "out there" in the continuing filthy and freezing weather, your support and generosity keeps me going.

25th January 2010: [The money you are so generously donating] - makes my my training feel like it's all worth it (well, the training I would be doing until the snow and ice came along to ruin my new year plans) .... My first run of 2010 inolved being  knocked over by a young labrador gambolling across a very icey Hampstead Heath resulting in a sprained sacro-illiac joint (mine, not the dog's) whi means I am now finding it a strain to walk from my office to the coffee machine, let alone run anywhere.  I should probably point out this is my very first marathon - in fact it is the only competitive sporting event I have entered since the Harston gymkhana in 1976 (when I fell off my pony). Indeed the most my "running" has consisted of until now is a 30 minute weekend jog round the park with my dogs Barnie and Beetle so this is going to be something of a shock. Hey ho! I'm sure I'll be raring to go in a few weeks ...