Thanks for supporting my Great North Run 2010 for CAFOD!

My Great North Run experience in 2010 proved more than I believed possible when that brash thought crossed my mind a year ago....

Thanks to all who supported my fundraising challenge: family, friends, my Company, and my many generous colleagues....

Thanks to all who took interest in, and encouraged, my training....

I felt absolutely great at the start of the run, just how I had hoped...loose, sharp, relaxed, and ready. I ran quickly through the first couple of miles, but not too fast....

But after 10 miles, it got tough...just what I'd seen in my training.  In the end, I was slower than I'd wanted, but overall, I'm pleased as punch.  Thank you very much!

Thanks on behalf of all those who will benefit from the funds you've helped me raise!

Again next year....?

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Thanks for visiting my Great North Run 2010 JustGiving page!

What am I Doing?!?!

Frances, my daughter, started it.  As I watched her last September running this famous half-marathon from Gateshead to South Shields in the Northeast of England, a brash thought crossed my mind....

On 19 September 2010, Frances will once again tackle the Great North Run.  And I'll be running, too, as will Dominic, Frances' elder brother and erstwhile club runner, and Frances' younger brother Peter.  Four of us in the Great North Run, and all running for Team CAFOD.

For my own part, I’m focused on finishing the event in an hour and three-quarters or less, and raising, in the process, at least £1000 for CAFOD.

Whether you choose to donate or not, please bookmark this site and revisit occasionally for photo updates of my training progress, preparation milestones—like the day we get our CAFOD race liverie—and march toward my fundraising goal.

The Training Plan

An ambivalent runner at the best of times, I started training in mid-October, fell ill the next day, ached all over, and needed extra knee support.  But I’ve stuck to the discipline and benefited lots from it, though the sultry summer evenings in prospect look a trial I don't relish….

On target?  Too close to call, but not sweating it.

Longest run so far?  I’ve tried the half-marathon distance a couple of times.

Best run so far?  Ten and a quarter miles in 79 and a half minutes.

Frances and I ran the Marie Curie 10 km Daffodil Run at Kelmarsh Hall in Northamptonshire as a training exercise on 23 May.  I guess we were both pleased, allowing for the heat and the monster hill at 5 km.  I finished two minutes slower than I hoped, but still among the top 100, and I now know I need more hot weather training.

Why run for CAFOD?

My memories and ongoing connections with friends from the four years I lived in West Africa continue to influence me.  Certain impressions remain fresh:  frustrations I felt trying to teach algebra and geometry without textbooks; the cholera epidemic in our town; ministrations to hapless young Marie, abandoned at the local Government hospital, who died from well-meaning but catastrophic village interventions in her difficult childbirth; the kindred fate of Sembekah, paralysed from the waist down in a back-breaking fall tapping wine from a palm tree.

After all these years, running for CAFOD is, for me, a reciprocation to those continuing to live under similar deprivations.

About CAFOD

CAFOD is an overseas development and relief agency, part of the Caritas International Foundation.  Your donations will support CAFOD’s range of projects improving education and healthcare, and providing clean water and decent housing in more than 60 countries around the world.

For example:
• £3 buys a full course of childhood immunisation for one child
• £7 buys a school uniform
• £17 provides school fees, uniform, and books for one child for a year
• £50 buys a bicycle for a village health worker, or a coolbox for carrying vaccines

About JustGiving

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 for your interest!

Give whatever you can!

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