Thanks for visiting my fundraising page.

The last two years I have been involved in various running events raising in excess of £20,000 for charity, but the current economic climate has made life a bit more difficult for people and money is harder to come by, so I have decided that if i'm going to raise money i'll have to go that extra yard.

St Raphael's Hospice offers the best of palliative care to terminally ill patients from the boroughs of Merton and Sutton in south west London and Surrey. Medical, nursing and support staff do everything possible to relieve pain and sustain quality of life in an atmosphere of peace and comfort, for patients of all faith or none.

To help this fantastic charity my running target for 2010 is to complete the Jurassic Coast Challenge in March. This event is a 78.6 mile challenge, consisting of three marathons in three consecutive days. The course starts in Lyme Regis and follows the brutal coastal paths, roads, beaches and numerous hills along the south coast to Poole.

To achieve this target my training has already started and will involve running many hundreds (even thousands!) of miles, and what better way to train than to throw in a load of marathons between now and next year!

My race programme includes the following marathons:

* 13th June 2009 - South Downs Marathon - Finishing Time: 4.41.02 - An extremely difficult course in hot conditions made this race really hard work. With elevation gains of 5,728 ft and a quad smashing 5,520 ft of downs, this race really sorted out the men from the boys.  

* 5th July 2009 - Tanners Ultra Marathon (30 Miles) - Finishing Time: 5.54.09 - My first ultra mararhon (any distance over the 26.2 mile marathon distance) and as usual it was a tough one. On a very warm day and hills everywhere, but good fun!

* 12th September 2009 - Lea Valley Trail Marathon - Finishing Time: 4.31.39 - First run over five miles for six weeks, due to holiday, sickness, bad back and a serious case of sofa-itis (even nutters need a rest!) so pleased with the time, and again it was a hot day.

* 27th September 2009 - New Forest Marathon - Finishing Time: 4.26.05 - Trotted round slowly but steadily. It was hot again, why is it always hot? it's nearly October!! It was tough, note to self: must do some training !!

* 26th October 2009 - Dublin Marathon - Finishing Time: 4.11.32 - An excellent weekend in Dublin, really enjoyed the race despite drinking too much Guinness the day before and feeling dreadful the whole way round. The weather was perfect and in hindsight i'm pleased with my fastest time of the year. Note to self: do more training and less drinking!

* 6th December 2009 - Luton Marathon

* 10th January 2010 - Winter Tanners Ultra Marathon (30 Miles)

* 24th January 2010 - Gloucester Marathon

* 26th March 2010 - Jurassic Coast Marathon Day 1 - Lyme Regis to Chickerell

* 27th March 2010 - Jurassic Coast Marathon Day 2 - Chickerell to Lulworth Cove

* 28th March 2010 - Jurassic Coast Marathon Day 3 - Lulworth Cove to Poole

* 25th April 2010 - Virgin London Marathon

* 3rd May 2010 - Belfast City Marathon

* 26th September 2010 - Berlin Marathon (Entry to be confirmed)

Thanks again for visiting my fundraising page, and hopefully you can dig deep to help improve the quality of life for people who are finding life a little tougher than most.

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor me: St Raphael's Hospice gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.

or you can send cheques made payable to St Raphael's Hospice to:

Steve Blake, 39 Trent Way, Worcester Park, Surrey, KT4 8TW.

So please sponsor me now!

Thanks

Blakey