I did it! The weather was perfect and as ever the support from the crowd was exhilarating. My time may have been worse than 2004 but I enjoyed it so much that
I just wasn't fussed. I had a cold in the two weeks running up to the big day, but in the end I decided not to pull out. As it turned out I got through, and always felt I had just enough energy in reserve to rugby tackle that 94 year-old to the ground if he tried anything on. Which he didn't. At mile 24 I put on my earphones, hit "play" and left Van Halen's "Jump" on repeat. Which helped me push through "the wall".
I ran on behalf of JRS: the Jesuit Refugee Service, a registered charity that works with displaced persons in over 50 countries, including Congo and Rwanda. JRS works both directly, in refugee camps and detention centres, but also does excellent advocacy work, campaigning to ensure that refugees and Internally Displaced persons are accorded their human rights. Although they - like Christian Aid - are a faith-based organisation, they do not seek to convert those they help
I do my bit for JRS as a volunteer here in London. Once a week I visit a Detention Centre at Heathrow Airport, spending an hour or two with a particular detainee - most of the time just listening. I'm still way too new at this to have much of a perspective on the difficult question of immigration controls. But it is clear to me that nobody becomes an asylum-seeker on a whim, to 'shop around' for a 'soft-touch', for benefits, or whatever else the Mail and some other papers might suggest. Some of the people I've visited have been living and working in this country 15 years longer than I have, but are stuck in a Kafka-esque 'system' without a clue how long they will remain in detention. Yet on the spectrum of JRS work I am very much at the "easy" end - I can hardly imagine what it must be like in DR Congo, etc.
Please give what you can to help JRS' work.
Raised:
78%
Raised so far: £1,180.00
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Alles Gute bei der neue-Schnueckisuche! Donation by Robin on 24/03/09 |
£30.00 + £8.46 Gift Aid |
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Good luck Marathon Man Donation by Hilary on 23/03/09 |
£30.00 + £8.46 Gift Aid |
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In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas Donation by In memory of Jan Hus, obit 1415. on 23/03/09 |
£30.00 + £8.46 Gift Aid |
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When I finish the Sheffield Half I shall think of you with the same distance to go again! Go for it, young un! Donation by Frank on 23/03/09 |
£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid |
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Good luck! I'll also be cheering you on on the day! Donation by lzanre on 12/02/09 |
£10.00 + £2.82 Gift Aid |
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Good luck Donation by Andrew Lownie on 22/01/09 |
£50.00 + £14.10 Gift Aid |
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Well done!!!! I will be there on the day to cheer you up. Go rowing now!!! Donation by Marine on 21/01/09 |
£20.00 + £5.64 Gift Aid |
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Best wishes for the race Donation by Dudleyboy on 15/01/09 |
£30.00 |
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Those ARE steep steps but I have faith in you Jon! Donation by Alun Howard on 29/12/08 |
£75.00 + £21.15 Gift Aid |
| * Total raised online: | £1,180.00 |
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| Offline donations: | £0.00 |
| Mobile donations: | £0.00 |
| Total Raised: | £1,180.00 |
| Gift Aid plus supplement: | £262.31 |
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Find out
how much it is and what we do for it.