I did it!! 6hrs and 9 mins to be precise. Had a good swim (apart from some serious jostling/people swimming over,under me!), felt great coming out of the water, bike went well, got a bit breezy further up the course and then the rain came - but not too bad. the last two miles felt the longest, was on the bike for 3hrs 20 and just wanted to get off by then! the run was as hard as I feared - the first 10k went ok but the ankle was struggling - especially with the cobbled bits of the run. persevered on though. Im absolutely delighted to have raised over my target for Trinity, just about £100 off target for my other charity Sparkes - so fingers crossed I get there for that. Huge thank you to everyone who sponsored me and sent me great messages of support. Massive thank you to Julian Nagi for brilliant training plans and support. To my family and friends - I must have been a nightmare to be around these last couple of months - worrying about whether I would even make it to the start line with my ankle. So thank you. couldnt have done it without my amazing support crew - Marcus and Gus. xxxx

 

 

On Sunday 25th July I will be taking part in the 70.3 Ironman in Antwerp. Swimming 1.2 miles in open water, Cycling 56 miles and running 13.1 miles. I have been in training since the beginning of the year - and now its only a month away - so Im looking for all my family and friends to support me by giving whatever you can spare, no matter how small to one (or both!) of my chosen charities. This page is set up for Trinity Hospice - my other charity - Sparkes Home Sril Lanka - can be found at www.justgiving.com/donnabakersparkeshomessrilanka

Here's a little bit why I decided to take on this challenge:

In the latter part of the year - I felt inspired to raise money for a charity which I felt deserved support and awareness. My Aunt (pictured above) spent her last few weeks at The Trinity Hospice in Clapham. Trinity provides the only dedicated end of life care service for 750,000 people living in central and South West London. My Aunt, who had cancer, had wanted to spend her final days there and it provided both her and her family with a calm and supportive environment. Her room, with doors opening onto a wonderful garden - was a peaceful haven. I felt inspired to raise money for this amazing organisation. Trinity only receives 36% of their income from the NHS and rely on donations/appeals/fundraising for the £5million needed each year. Trinity Hospice last year cared for over 2000 patients. They also cared for 1750 in their own homes and 400 in their in-patient centre.

My Aunt fought her illness to the end with dignity and serenity. Her humour, always quick and dry, was there unitl the end. She is very much missed by all her family and friends.

 

I am also supporting the Sparkes Home Sri Lanka - charity set up by one of Gus' teachers at school.  Its another wonderful charity that help girls aged 6 and up whose lives have been affected by the Tsunami and Civil War in Sri Lanka. Please read more about it on my just giving page:  www.justgiving.com/donnabakersparkeshomessrilanka

Any donation, no matter how small, would make a huge difference to either one of these amazing charities.

 

Thank you so much

Donna

x

 

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.