28th September.

Hello everyone

Thank you to all of you who sponsored me for the Windsor Half Marathon.  And for those of you who have not yet sponsored me, you’ll be pleased to know there is still time (and you know who you are, yes you, stop feeling uncomfortable, it won’t hurt, just do it.  Think how good you will feel at making a contribution).

It was a brilliantly organised event and set in beautiful royal park surroundings, that’s the good bit!!  Well after training since January and having done around 300 miles to get fit enough after a twenty year absence form distance running, it all went really well for the first four miles.  Then my right hamstring started to seize up and I knew that I was in for a long and very hot afternoon.  The latter part of the run was definitely one of the most arduous and painful things I have been through.  At about 8 miles I thought about giving up but Alex’s bet of finishing in under 2 hours 15 helped to keep me going and once I got to 10, 11, 12 miles I knew it was only a matter of time…I finished in 2 hours 7.  My best time recently albeit on a treadmill was 1 hour 38.  However I’m relieved I finished and now have to decide whether to do it all over again.

So thank you again.  It’s been a great journey and thank you to all of you whether or not you have sponsored me (yet) for your comments and encouragement.  It means a lot to me.

All the best

John

15th September.  Well it doen't get any easier, i can't believe that after 20 years of watching other runners I decided to do this again.  I'll be pleased when its all over and I can get back to coffee and cakes (oh alright then raw vegetable juice and a carrot!!)  I'm still aiming to getround in less than two hours but aiming and achieving are two rather different things. 

Thank you so much for sponsoring me as despite all the moans and groans from me, it really does help knowing that you're behind me (which means you must be at walking pace he he!!)

I'll keep you posted.  All the best, JP

23rd August.  Hi everyone. Thank you so much to all of you who have donated to Action on Addiction.  Over £600, I wish I could make "thank you" a lot louder!!  I've added a couple of pics of two of the very best and very little reasons that I kicked drugs, a source of massive inspiration to me and they as yet have no idea!!!  (Till they look at this page I guess!!)   I've pulled a hamstring which has stopped my gruelling training regime (thank goodness) however I will crawl round if I need to).  Thank you from me to you.  Love John

Hi there

I'm running in the Windsor Half Marathon 2009 on 27th September to raise money for Action on Addiction.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, even though as yet you haven't!!!   I would love it if you would be generous enough to make a donation to Action on Addiction.  This is a charity that I am keen to support.  You may know that I had a fairly lengthy fight to give up drugs myself and therefore this is a cause that has some significance to me.   As part of my own rehabilitation and recovery, I kept it firmly in mind that I wanted at some stage to be able to use my own drug taking experience to some good and I guess this is just the start of that journey.  Each person who gives up drugs has the chance of finding a better way of life and any donation from you of whatever amount will help with just that.  Knowing that you are supporting me to do this half marathon will give me a bucket load of encouragement and I can tell you I need all the encouragement I can get.

A few years ago I was told by my chiropractor never to run again which in itself was a bit of a challenge.  So with some serious help I have managed to straighten my vertebrae which were causing my problem and now I'm ready (I hope) to do my first half marathon in 20 years.  My best time before was just over 1.5 hours so I reckon anything less than 2 hours will be a bit of a result.

.It's easy to donate online with a credit or debit card - just go to my JustGiving page: http://www.justgiving.com/Johnnyrunsagain

Thank you and thank you 

JP