Dear Family, Friends and Supporters

Thanks for visiting our fundraising page.

TRAINING MILES SINCE CHRISTMAS!!

JOHN : 347.96                      RUNNING NUMBER 12099

FINISHED IN 3:38:03         5,473RD

ALISON : 237.7    22/04       RUNNING NUMBER 45337

FINISHED IN 5:38:51        31,289TH

John is going for the big Number 3, hoping to break his previous record of 3 hrs 48 mins, Alison is a marathon novice, just hoping to get around before the family have given up hope and gone home! Main aim is to be within 2 hrs of John's time!!!

We are both running for SPARKS, the medical research charity that funds a wide variety of research into paediatric illnesses, including children's cancer

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor us: SPARKS 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.

So please sponsor us now!

Thank you so much for your support

With thanks and best wishes

John and Alison

12th Feb. (Alison ) have been reluctant to start asking for sponsorship until now as badly sprained ankle 4 weeks ago which put a bit of a halt to the training, and then so much snow last week was only able to run on the treadmill at the gym which is SOOOOO boring!! However having now completed a 12 mile run, plus various others, think perhaps I need to step out in faith ( literally!! ) and start asking for your support. Another justgiving site shows accumulated training miles which is probably very helpful - it shows how much we are trying , and being committed to this, whether or not the day itself goes well!!!

So our accumulated training miles since Christmas will now be shown at the top of the page!

John is also struggling with a calf injury - the training road to this marathon is certainly not smooth, however with determination and the help of physio Mike at Citisport we are hoping to get there.

Thank you for all your support! Please sponsor us for our efforts at training as well as the Big Day itself.

7th March: I ran 15 miles today - struggled for the last  2 but managed it in 2hrs 53 mins which is the longest I have ever run in my life!! ( only another 11 to go, I hear you say - but then a few weeks ago, I thought 8 miles was beyond my capability.....)

John managed 18 in about 2 1/2 hours so still hoping to break his previous PB of 3hrs 48 for the Big Day

Thank you to all our friends that wave to us whilst we are out running, all helps!!

20th March: still going strong although I (Alison) am finding the increased sessions and length of runs, in March, quite a struggle whereas John is relishing the challenge! We had a short 3 day break in the Alps last week ( just us 2!!) and after a heavy day of skiing the ENTIRE 3 valleys from 9am to 5.30pm, I crashed on the bed each day trying to summon the energy to wander down to dinner. John of course, set out on a run each evening before dinner from La Tania to meribel: wherever you are in the ALps it is mainly up hill. The man is mad!

So John is running hard, managed to do a run averaging 7.18 minute miles this week. I am a steady 11 to 12 minute miler, just hoping to keep going for the 26.2 miles - the nearer to April 26th we get, the harder the challenge seems. I have to do 16 miles tomorrow. But as I go, I think of all the families that SPARKS is hoping to help, and all the lovely familes represented among our sponsors, who would run any distance if it would help their lovely children.

Thank you to all our friends who are sponsoring us - I am convinced that your donations will help children of the future.

29th March: The biggest run was this weekend - I completed 18 miles in 3 hrs 43, which seems amazing considering that this time 6 months ago, I struggled to get around a 5 K course! John did his last 20 mile run, and again was pleased with how it is all going.

We are doing the 16 mile Kingston Breakfast Run next weekend, to practice our drinking and eating strategies for the Big Day, and then taper the effort to conserve muscles for the marathon itself. The main aim now is not to get injured on our forthcoming ski holiday after all this hard work!!

Thank you all once again for supporting us. As soon as we know our running numbers, we will post them on here then you can follow our progress on the website live as the race unfolds.

22nd April : Well we survived the 16 mile Kingston Breakfast Run, both practising our food and drink intake plans, and trying to do good steady pace. I was very pleased to do it 3 hours 10 mins and 1 sec ( ie 11 mins 50 secs per mile average, whole way - within my aims of around 11.30 to 12 min miles overall )

I was 1882nd out of a field of 1919 finishers so was quite amazing that there were 30 odd people even slower than me!! Plus all those who gave up of course....

John was a whole hour quicker in 2 hrs 2 mins 26 secs which was = 7mins 39 secs average speed, well within his aim of under 8 minute miling.  He was 388th.

We now have our running numbers and they are posted at the top of this page. You can follow our progress on the day ( assuming our running chips stay on, unlike John last year!) by logging into the flora marathon website and putting in the number.  

I am relieved that after our lovely ski holiday, we are back , intact, no broken bones but I found it quite impossible to run over there, as the altitude was over 4000 metres and i could barely get upstairs without panting for breath. I did one 2 mile run and that was it. John ran 3 times and although slower than usual, did at least manage it!

I am now in Panic Mode but hopefully the crowds on the day and all of you wonderful supporters will keep me going. John is just very excited and hoping for a personal best.

We will upload a finishers picture as soon as we can, hopefully. Do come back to this site on Monday to see how we did!!!

Once again, thank you all, you help us keep going, and the charity is hugely worthwhile. Special thanks to all those who do not know us but have sponsored us in acknowledgement of a young person , friend or relative, currently fighting or who has fought cancer .

Alison ( and John)

28th April : Well we did it!! A very very hot day ( we look like we have spent a week in Florida with our new suntans) but it was a fantastic experience. John kept excellently to his race plan until he hit the famous Wall at 20 miles - and felt like he was running backwards, with various people overtaking him, but still did amazingly well to take 10 minutes off his previous personal best to come in at 3 hrs 38 mins and 3 secs. He was 699th out of 2996 men aged 45 -50, and was 5473rd overall out of 35,000 !!!!!!!! Not bad at all!!!!!! He was particularly pleased to beat Olympic athlete Iwan Thomas, and also ex-footballer and infamous chef Gordon Ramsay ( who although looking incredibly ancient is exactly the same age as John) - all that swearing is obviously not good for you.

I attempted to run at a nice steady pace the whole way , along with my friend Pip, and we did pretty well for the 1st 15 miles or so. Then felt rather overcome by heat and exhaustion at Canary Wharf ie miles 18 -21. It is not just how many miles you have done, but the fact you still have SO many to go, plus there is no music there and the tall buildings are quite claustrophobic. By the time I got to mile 21 though, someone had Don't Stop me Now by Queen belting out, and I got a 2nd wind and managed to run again for the last 4 miles or so. however it was pretty slow and I have to say that Birdcage walk is at least 3 miles long !!!!!!!!!

The support is truly amazing and restores your faith in multicultural Britain - the 1st 10 miles in the East End is such a vibrant mix of people , cultures and sound. It was tremendously uplifting. High 5 s from all the children, loads of music, loads of sweets and food handed out, truly a wonderful experience. Having all these strangers cheering you on personally ( we had our names on our shirts) was so encouraging.

I finished in 5 hrs 38mins and 51 secs so just 48 secs shy of my aim of finishing within 2 hrs of John!!! I was 31,289th overall out of the 35000 running so , amazingly 4000 people behind me! And Sir Steve Redgrave, Olympic rower, only managed to do half an hour better than me, last year!

I also chatted along the way to Peter Andre and Katie Price ( Jordan) and was overtaken by several chickens, and the huge Well Child Nurse. Not to mention 3 Wombles . I ran alongside Batman for several miles. ( to the sound of na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-Batman!! from the crowds) . I also met a number of wonderful individuals all with very personal reasons for doing the marathon.

As they say, the legs ache for a few hours and perhaps for a few days , but the memories last forever.

And finally a special thank you to my mum and dad, who marshalled 4 children and a boyfriend around London all day - you were fantastic!!

And we have raised just about £4000, together with the Gift Aid. Thank you to all our supporters. I will put the photo on, when it is through.

Thank you all once again

Alison and John