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Hi, my name is Joe Shaw, I am 17 years old and live in a small village called Longburton in Dorset. On the 11th March 2011 I am running the Bath Half Marathon and am looking for sponsorship. The money raised will go to this fantastic charity called 'Friends Of Young Carers'. They operate in the Bath/North East Somerset area, helping around 200 young carers. A young carer is someone aged 5-18 who has to devote a large portion of their life acting as a carer to loved ones. Because of these commitments, young carers are often left isolated, fatigued and fall behind with their work at school. This cause has always saddened me more than others, perhaps due to the fact that I am only just 17, and reading some of the cases on their website really makes me appreciate how lucky I am, and how I take so much for granted when these children effectively give up their childhood to look after their family, and strive to balance their lives between full-time carer and a child still trying to get an education. Some of the stories on their website are really heartrending, and I hope you have the time to read a few of them: http://www.foyc.org.uk/  10.11.11 Just finished my first 8 mile run in 1 hour.  My aim is to finish the Half Marathon in around 1 Hr 50 mins, so if I can keep up that pace I should be able to do that with time to spare! The journey starts here!  30.11.11 I've been running about 3 times a week now. Managed to get up to 10 miles in around 1hr 20mins. It's starting to get a bit difficult to convince myself to go out when the weather is getting worse, but it's worth it in the end. Still enjoying it... just.   25/12/11: Christmas day run... now that's dedication! have been out running throughout December and I am improving (gradually...) Around three months to go now! Not sure where the time is going, but still plenty of miles left to run! Merry Christmas! 22/1/12: January's flown past. I'm now playing football 5 times a week, so not a lot of runnning is taking place at the moment! I've managed to go for one long run a week and pace is still increasing, the football's obviously helping as well. 7 weeks to the day... it's getting quite close now! 16.2.12: Half Term can only mean 1 thing... More running. Now working on my running pace since my fitness is getting there. Between running and working, however, I haven't got a lot else going on at the moment, which I guess can only be a good thing!   1.3.12 : 10 days! I can't wait to get this done. I went for my final run today before the big day, now I can just relax and begin to enjoy it, after all I've done all the hard work now. Thank you for your support! 12.3.12: Well, what a day!  I finished it in just over the 1hr 50 target on a very hot day! It was a very enjoyable experience and would reccomend it to anyone, even if you never go running, the atmosphere was incredible! Thank you so much to all those who have sponsered and supported me over the last 6 months! It really means a lot!  '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.' So please dig deep and donate now.

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