Thank you for visiting my fundraising page.

*** UPDATE ***

I Done it!!! yes I completed the Reading Half Marathon in a respectable 1hr 50min 39 seconds. I finished 4238th out of about 12000 finishers, approx 16000 people started the race. What a fantastic feeling....

On 2 March 2008 I will be attempting to complete the Reading Half Marathon in a respectable time.

To many this may not seem such an achievement.  However, for those that know me, you will remember that just one year ago I weighed-in at a massive 25 and a half stone and the most exercise I got was walking from the car park to the door of the chip shop!!

I decided to lose weight for several reasons and within 8 months I had trimmed down to less than half my original weight.  I  now weigh just 12 and a half stone and feel fantastic.

Towards the end of my weight loss journey I decided to embark upon the previously unheard of activity “exercise”.  I started going for walks with my newly acquired dog and this soon led to some jogging / walking.  Well I've now got the bug and love to run.  I am regularly training at 30+ miles per week spread over 4 mornings. I run at 5am before heading off to work

To me this is a massive achievement and I decided to channel this energy into training for a run.   I have decided to enter the Reading half marathon in March followed by the Halstead full marathon in May 2008. ** Update ** I now also have a place in the Great North Run in October this year, this is the UK's largest half marathon, I have got a place in the team entered by the Cambridge Diet.

For my first competitive run I have decided to return “home” to Reading.  I was born and bred in Reading and still have family there.  As the 'fat kid'  I would regularly watch the runners completing this marathon, never dreaming that one day it could be me.  The route ironically passes my old secondary school where during PE lessons, one particular teacher would shout “Parsons you cretin… RUN” as I was  strolling around the 1500m race with no intention of running.

I have decided to raise funds for the Dolphin children’s ward at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading.

Two years ago my sister had a lovely little boy “Sam”.  After complications at birth Sam led a troubled life.  He spent a lot of time in the Dolphin ward where the staff and facilities were excellent.  After a traumatic 6 months Sam sadly passed away, devastating the whole family. 

I would like to raise as much sponsorship as possible to enable these excellent facilities to continue to be available for other sick children.

If you can spare a little please dig deep and help make my run worth the effort.

Below there are 2 links to web pages that may be of interest.  The first is to an article that appeared in the Sun newspaper on 5 Jan 2008 featuring myself and my wife's amazing weight loss story.  The second link is to my blog (online diary), which I kept whilst losing my weight.  This contains text and photos detailing my amazing journey on the Cambridge diet, culminating in coming second in the national slimmer of the year awards 2007.

So please sponsor me NOW!

Many thanks for your support.

www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article653253.ece

www.thebigdiet.blogspot.com

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Reading And District Hospitals Charity 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.

Alan Parsons