Story
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Firstly, I want to say a massive thank you to everyone for the very generous donations to date!! I am blown away by the generosity of everyone and can't say thank you enough, it really really does help. </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">For those of you who don't know and are visiting the page for the 1st time, I am running the London Marathon 2012 to raise money for Ataxia UK. The Charity support sufferers of a little known condition called Ataxia which a very dear friend, Sophie, suffers with. It's a very rare neurological disorder with potentially devastating consequences that affect coordination, balance and speech. In reading this I would urge you to visit the Ataxia UK website where you can learn more about Ataxia, the charity and the work they do to support people who suffer from Ataxia. Ataxia UK is a small, entirely contribution based charity with no government assistance</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> and the money you donate will make a real difference</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Tahoma,Helvetica,FreeSans,sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Ok, so with less than 3 weeks I am about to start week 14 of the training program. My legs are still sore, and I walk with a permanent grimace on my face...... I've taken to going downstairs sideways or backwards. Each week the schedule increases the weekly distance you run by 10% and last week I ran 36 miles in total, culminating with 20 miles on Sunday. So far I have ran over 300 miles since I started!!!!! I have now completed all my planned long training runs with the last being on the Sunday just gone! I am starting the ramp down now which involves short runs to maintain fitness (cough), and allow the legs time to recover, and they need that time.<br></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">If you haven't yet sponsored don't worry there's still plenty of time and donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Ataxia UK will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Thank you everyone again it really is a boost to know that so many people are in support.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Rob</span></span></p>
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