Six months ago I went running with my cousin, Moo, and was shocked to realise whatever slight agility and fleetness of foot I once had was undeniably gone (see photo). So I looked for an opportunity that could spur me back into shape and along came four! Always one to say yes first and check the small print later, I signed up for them all... Now I know that requests for sponsorship come along all too often so have combined all four disciplines into one plea for your donations that will benefit a myriad of awesome causes.
CHALLENGE 1 – 20K NIGHT RUN IN BELFAST - 16 NOVEMBER 2011
Unbroken by the loss of his sight at 22 years of age and a paralyzing fall 13 years later, Mark Pollock has made surviving catastrophic change an art form and been an inspiration to people worldwide. Amar Patel and I will fly over to Belfast to complete two laps of the night run there to help raise funds to assist with the capital and ongoing costs associated with his spinal injury.
http://www.markpollocktrust.org/run/
CHALLENGE 2 – ONE-WEEK TANDEM RIDE THROUGH TANZANIA – FROM 26TH NOVEMBER 2011
Stuart Block is almost a third the way through his monster undertaking of cycling a tandem from Livingstone to London, raising money for 4 charities: Beyond Ourselves, Right to Sight, Alive & Kicking & UNICEF, all striving to accomplish amazing things in the world's poorest regions and all focused on sustainability. I will be joining Stuart on the back seat in Tanzania for a week of his journey.
CHALLENGE 3 – TWO OF FIVE STAGES OF ATHENS TO LONDON BIKE RIDE – FROM 23 APRIL 2012
Danny-Boy Ashton, Charlie Oliver and I, after the odd bottle of wine thought it would be an excellent idea to sign up for Fred Flintoff and Laurence Dallaglio's 2012 cycle slam. Apparently it’s 140 kilometres per day through the Apennines and Alps but it’s ok because I’ve done two consecutive laps of Richmond Park already and that’s pretty hilly. In aid of the Dallaglio Foundation and the Flintoff Foundation.
www.dallaglioflintoff2012.com/
CHALLENGE 4 – NEW YORK MARATHON - NOVEMBER 2012
Dan Hawkins’ father was sadly diagnosed with Motor Neurone disease in the summer of 2011 and is currently fighting against this terrible condition. Dan and I will attempt to complete next year’s New York marathon in under 3hr 30min to raise money for the motor neurone disease association. Our previous bests were just shy of the 4 hour mark when we were at our peak of youthful fitness...
All in all this adds up to a smidge over 2000 kilometres (in scientific speak that's 2 megametres or 0.2 gigametres and in layman's speak it's not-just-round-the-corner), a distance I can only imagine achieving in my most rosy-tinted of optimistic moments. I urge you to give generously but all contributions large and small will be much appreciated!
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
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.
