UPDATE:

Currently injured. Cannot run. Awaiting MRI to assess damage and rehabilitate. Apparently, I'm no longer 21 years old.

I WILL BE COMPLETING THE REMAINING 3 HALF MARATHONS, HOWEVER, THIS WILL HAPPEN IN 2019 NOW.

COMPLETED:

1. HALF MARATHON - 14th April - Putney & Fulham Half Marathon (South West London). Time - 2 hours 0 minutes.

2. HALF MARATHON - 12th May - Wimbledon Half Marathon (South West London). Time - 2 hours 9 minutes (whilst ill with Tonsilitis and on Antibiotics).

3. HALF MARATHON - 29th June - Lee Valley Olympic Park Half Marathon (East London). Time - 2 hours 14 minutes. (33C - hottest day of the year).

4. HALF MARATHON - 21st July - Victoria Park Half Marathon (East London). Time - 2 hours 23 minutes. (Walked the last 2.88km).

As some of you may be aware, in November last year (2018), our 2 year old son - Asen, was very ill, and had to spend 7 days in hospital whilst he battled Kawasaki's Disease. A rare auto-immune 'disease' that effects children between the ages of 2 and 6. In the UK, only 8 in 100,000 children are effected, and whilst the first stage is terrible, the effects can be life threatening, particularly with an increased risk of Heart Aneurysms.

At this terrifying time for us, the care provided to our son by an astounding group of 4 Consultants was nothing short of amazing. Not only did they take care of our beautiful little boy, but they also looked after us. Without them, their care, attention and detail, our son wouldn't have recovered so quickly. It's safe to say that this was the worst experience Zori (my wife) and I have been through; the inability to help our child when he needed us most.

Luckily, and thanks only to the amazing NHS staff, who were able to diagnose and treat him, was he released 7 days after arriving at Accident & Emergency. A month of appointments followed, including at the children's cardiology department to check he did not have damage to his heart and arteries (including heart aneurysms).

He's now back to being our happy, energetic little 2 year old.

The least I can do to repay the team that took care of our little boy, and the Paediatric Short Stay Unit which were our rocks, is to help raise money for them and their department. Having spoken to the lead consultant, I shall raise GBP 3,500.

However, there needs to be some input from me. So as my boy suffered for 7 days in hospital, I shall be running 7 half marathons; 1 a month for 7 months. this is the least I can do for him, and for the team.

I shall start in April, and I will finish in October. I'll be posting the days and dates I'll be running, as well as the times when I've finished the run.

Anything you can give, however big or small would be gratefully appreciated. I can't explain enough what raising this amount would mean, so I can give back to the team that helped save my boy.