Update: Sunday 24th January 2010
Dubai Marathon - done.
Thank you for your generous donations towards this cause and for helping me to plow straight through the 1500 target! The Dubai Marathon was a great experience even if it didn't quite go according to plan - my time was 3:46:43.
So thanks again for donating towards a well deserving cause - and if you haven't yet donated and would like to, this page still works even though the marathon's over!
Cheers - Chris.
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Firstly, thanks for getting as far as this page.
You may or may not know that I currently work and live in , , which is a tiny speck of a country next door to and Saudi.
I arrived here at the end of July and have since decided that I need some kind of goal to aim for outside of work, and given Qatar's soaring heat, ridiculous humidity, and high pollution, marathon training seemed the natural choice...
So, on 22nd January 2010 I'll be making the short hop over to the Emirates for the Dubai Marathon. This will be my first marathon, the last "competitive" race of any significant distance that I took part in being a local 10k when I was 18. Hmm...
This torturous training might as well yield something other than blisters, so after discussions with my family, I decided on raising money for ASBAH, the Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus. Spina Bifida, meaning "split spine", is a birth defect which basically results in a portion of the lower spine being irreversibly damaged.
ASBAH's work is quite close to the hearts of our family and my mom has supported them for a long time - while I was still a wee nipper, Spina Bifida claimed Jonathon, who would now have been my 22 year old brother.
Surgery has progressed over the years but still currently, for those that survive birth, mobility is limited and measures from crutches to wheel chairs are required; the level of paralysis varying depending on the severity of the Spina Bifida.
ASBAH work to increase the quality of life for those affected, and their families too. Providing everything from help lines and information days, to medical and health information, and research, they offer a wide spectrum of advice to anyone who needs it.
So your contributions towards my effort, no matter how much you can spare, will be gratefully received by the good folks at ASBAH. Please spread the word and share the link to this page with anyone you feel may be interested in donating - I'll need as much help as possible in order to reach my target. Using this safe and secure website means that your donations will go straight to ASBAH, and Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a taxpayer.
The challenging bit:
I thought I'd make it interesting, so as an added incentive, I'm setting myself the ridiculous target of completing the marathon in under 3 hours...
