Hi all,

well the race has come and gone! i managed to complete it all. I woke up on Saturday the day before the race with a horrible cold and thought that maybe i would be unable to compete this year. However i travelled to Portsmouth and thought i would see how i was on the morning of the race. A lot of pepto bismo, etc etc later and Sunday morning brought a few sniffles and a bit of a heavy chest.

However i decided that i could probably manage to at least walk around the course if not run it so i went down to the start and with the help of Lisa made it over the start line.

I then got caught up in the moment as allways and before i knew it, it was ten miles later and my watch was reading

1 Hour 27 Minutes ! ! which i have to say i am really happy with as i doubted that i would even be able to complete the course when i got up. It was a great day out and I now ask again for more support for Nowzad Dogs, when the pictures come out on the great run site i will post them here, the look of pure agony will be very funny!!

Please Dontate more the dogs need all the support that they can get.

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Why am I supporting Nowzad Dogs?

I never really had time for dogs and didn't really know how intelligent they were or the joy and happiness that they can bring in to someones life.

That was until I met my wife Lisa who had Freddy the black labrador in the pictures. All I can say about Freddy is that he is absolutely Mad with a capital M! Get him near the water and he is off! straight in and he will stay there all day and night if you allow him to be! After the initial barking at someone new in his domain Freddy soon began to realise that now he had someone else he could try and get dinner out of. Needless to say one of his nicknames over the years has been Freddy Two dinners, or Triple F, (I will let you work that one out!)

Freddy made me realise that there is more to a dog than just dinner and walking, they are just like humans really and require the same sort of assurances as we do, Love, Security, Interaction and a host of other things. With a dog around you are never lonely, a dog can always make you smile! After meeting Freddy I realised this and also saw what I had been missing over the years.

Then one fateful day Lisa started to pester me for another dog, namely a Chocolate coloured variety of Freddy. To say that I wasn't keen to start with would be an understatement! Having one dog is quite hard work, or so I thought, but I was new to the Dog game at this stage.

I made a deal that if I got my current Job, I would give in and we could get another dog, needless to say I did get the Job, (for which Pen says he will forgive me for!)  So backed in to a corner we started to look for another dog. We looked but couldn't find 'the one' so to speak.  Then one day my mother in law came to us and told us that her friend at work bred Chocolate Labradors and that a litter had just been born.

One of the litter had to be removed early as there was a problem with her Bowels and Intestines. The problem was that they were folding in on themselves, which meant that stuff that should come out the rear end came out the front end! The first operation was given to her at just four weeks old, which amazingly the brave little thing survived. We were offered this puppy, and we had a long discussion about the pros and cons about having a dog with the problems described above. We hadn't met the dog yet, so we went to see her, that was the mistake as when we saw her we had to take her with us! there is nothing cuter than this chocolate bundle of mischief!  Despite her early difficulties this puppy was curious about everything and very self confident. She charmed us from the start! 

I would like to say that the rest is history, and I suppose it is, We called this little trouble maker Fudge, not very imaginative I know but hey there you go! It just works.

Fudge has had a further three operations on her intestines, the last being over 18 months ago, we live in hope that as she has grown the problem has subsided.  Needless to say she has cost us a fortune in vets bills over the last three years, but she has been worth it.

If I thought that Freddy had character well nothing prepared me for the arrival of Fudge! This is one absolutely nutty dog!!  But again she is so loving and loyal to my wife and I. She has also given Freddy a new lease of life, as he is getting on a bit now, he is Thirteen this year! I reckon he has a few years left yet though, maybe all down to his new mate Fudge, they adore each other, they really do. As we adore them as well. Anyone with a dog will understand that.

So being Dog lovers, it was only natural that we read Pens book, "ONE DOG AT A TIME" whilst on holiday this year.  The work Pen is doing is absolutely brilliant and the charity that he has set up needs all the support that it can get. As I have written earlier, Dogs are like people and need the same things, they don't need to be forced in to fighting each other for the amusement of others. You only have to read Pen's book to realise that dogs crave attention and that when given the right direction any dog can become domesticated and bring joy to those who take them into their homes.

For these reasons I decided to take part in the Great South Run this year (2009) and run for NOWZAD DOGS.  Please donate whatever you can, every little helps! I am now signed up for the Great South Run  2010 !! so keep donating here, next year i will be looking to break 1 Hour 20 minutes. Also if i get a place i will be running the New Brighton Marathon in 2010 all for Nowzad Dogs.

Thank you for taking the time.

Jason.