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My Inspiration

On Sunday 11 October 2009, I will be taking part in the second Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon, which will start at 9.30 AM in Hyde Park. The race goes past some of London’s great landmarks including Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Big Ben, and Admiralty Arch, through Kensington Gardens and will finish back at Hyde Park.

Read about it here:

http://www.royalparksfoundation.org/support/

In June this year I was inspired to take part in this ambitious race and started my training back then. This will be my first half marathon and a step towards achieving my goal of running a full marathon in 2010. (Now that I've told you I am going to have to do it!).

My Charity

The even greater challenge that I have set myself is to do the race on behalf of the Elephant Family charity, a small London based charity dedicated to preserving the endangered Asian elephant.

Human development in India, Thailand and Indonesia is rapid and certainly fantastic for humankind but it is resulting in the depletion of forest land, the natural home of the Asian elephant species. The Elephant Family charity is committed to preserving the Asian elephant habitat by creating wildlife corridors of connected forests through which the Asian elephant can roam and migrate, access food, and connect with other herds, without endangering local communities. These wildlife corridors additionally benefit and preserve other animal species.

I was drawn to this charity as their work embodies the responsibility I feel we have to be active caretakers of the earth and all its animals.

You can read more about the Elephant Family charity here: 

http://www.elephantfamily.org/

My Training

My training since June is going well and I am running approx. 3 mornings a week. My route starts at my gym at London Bridge, from where I run parallel to the river on the Southside, past London Borough Market and the London ITV studios on the South Bank as far as Westminster Bridge. I then cross over the Bridge, while checking the time on Big Ben before turning right on the other side of the bridge. I am then parallel to the river again on the North side and follow the river along the paths that pass the Waterloo, Blackfriars, Southwark and London Bridges until I reach Tower Bridge. I cross the bridge to the Southside of the river (without losing my head(!) ) before making the last dash back to the London Bridge gym. This takes about 1 hr and 20 minutes. I have set myself the target of running 13 miles in 2hrs 15 minutes.

During these early morning runs I have witnessed the most amazing orange and red sun rises over Canary Wharf on London’s East side.  Surprisingly, I have found the running community in London is friendly and I am spurred on when I find myself flagging from the heat, hunger or tiredness by some cheerful hellos as they run past.

Your Donation

I hope you are inspired by what you have read here today and I look forward to updating you next week after the epic feat has been accomplished.

Your donation will be immensely appreciated as representative of your support for me and for the Elephant Family.

Thanks a million and so much more in advance for your donation of any size.

A gorgeous and exclusive gift idea

If you are looking for a gift idea for an animal loving friend or family member, boyfriend or girlfriend, husband or wife, I have exclusively been given by the Elephant Family charity, three gorgeous Date an Elephant Packs for the reduced price of £25 each. The normal price is £30.

Read about the Date an Elephant gift idea here:

http://www.elephantfamily.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=60&Itemid=114

If you would like one please let me know and I will arrange delivery to you in exchange for the purchase price which will go to the Elephant Family.