Updated on May 19th 2010 - MARATHON PHOTOS ARE IN - PLEASE HAVE A LOOK AND READ BELOW THE FINAL THOUGHTS, THANKS AND FAVOURS REQUESTED FROM ALL YOU LOVELY PEOPLE!!!
Just wanted to say a huge thank you to every single one of you who sponsored me to run the London Marathon.
Gunning for a target time of 4hrs 30mins I came in at 4hrs 21mins 6seconds which although I was pleased with would have been about 15 minutes faster if I hadn't lost two of the last three nights sleep before running, and in the week you are supposed to rest and sleep!
This is because we spent those nights on a coach up from Spain through France to home having been stranded for eight days by the Icelandic Volcano ash shutting all European airspace. However I am just delighted to have got back in time to run at all, as we were one of the lucky ones who got back!!
However I am proud to say that all my training really paid off as, despite the lack of sleep, I have now joined the exclusive club of the 20% of Marathon runners who actually run the entire course non-stop. And having run around many of the other 80% during the last ten miles I can confirm this statistic!!!
NOW GIVE YOURSELVES A MASSIVE ROUND OF APPLAUSE!!!!!
You have raised a massive £3922.00 -WOW!!!
And with a few more people to come hopefully - who knows, we might even get to £4,000.00 which would be a massive acheivement!
I would really like to put on record the very kind folk who who have donated by cheque and as such whose names do not appear on the donations.
Firstly a HUGE thank you and all our love to Betty Stewart who banged the drum in the villages of Kincraig, Kingussie and surrounding villages and who raised a fantastic £320.00 - THANK YOU!!!!!!
Moira Stewart and 'girlfriends' who raised a spectacular £335.00 with a Pampered Chef Party -THANK YOU!!!!!
Tony & Maria Peisley donated £100.00 - £50 online and another £50 by cheque for my beating my target - thank you!
Graham, Dianne, Reece & Ethan Thomas donated £100.00 - so kind and thank you!
Frank O'Brien who very generously donated £100.00
Sue, Pete and George who donated £52.00
Thank You EVERYBODY!!
FINAL THOUGHTS
With the marathon over and just the memories posted above it just remains to thank everyone of you who have contributed for your massive generosity. I have already been invited to run again next year by JDRF's Team Pingu but frankly a mix of the enormous amount of time it requires to train to run properly and the fact that everyone has been so generous this time I think it would be a bit cheeky asking all over again next time!
Perhaps in 2012 - but in the meantime the running continues. On Sunday morning, 3 weeks to the day after the Marathon itself, I ran the Richmond Half Marathon and beat my previous PB of 1hr 51mins54secs coming in at 1hr 50mins 30secs
I will be sending one final email to everyone - including a few folk who have said they would sponsor me and whose minds it must have slipped - so fingers crossed we can hit the £4,000.00 mark.
So on behalf of Miles and the thousands of other children with Type 1 - thank you so much, your generosity will hopefully one day lead to the cure for this condition.
FINAL FAVOUR
If I could ask one final favour - if/when you talk to people about Miles condition or about diabetes in general - if you could remember to remind people that Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes is completely different to Type 2 Diabetes we would greatly appreciate your help.
It is the mission of JDRF and everyone with an interest in Type 1 to increase the awareness of people that Type 1 is NOT the 'diabetes' which is constantly incorrectly mentioned in the press by everyone from The Sun to the Daily Telegraph and on TV shows about overweight people i.e. 'Supersize vs Size Zero' and 'Fat Families'. By irresponsibly bandying the term 'diabetes' about without bothering to differentiate between Type 1 and Type 2 they are lumping Type 1 sufferers in with Type 2 which is a completely different condition .
Type 1 is an autoimmune disease which, for reasons science has yet to understand, attacks predominantly children leaving them having to have multiple daily injections of insulin simply to stay alive. Type 2 - or adult onset - diabetes in the vast majority of cases is brought on by poor diet and lack of exercise which leads to obesity and therefore, in simple terms, the pancreas struggles to generate enough insulin to regulate the new enlarged person's blood glucose levels. In the majority of cases happily this is reversible by improved diet and exercise.
If having Type 1 wasn't challenging enough, some people's misconception of the condition, potentially makes it even more upsetting.
So please go forth and inform!!!!
Love from Miles, Moo & Mexxxxxxxxxxxxx (Mr Athlete!)
If you are yet to sponsor me and would like to we would be very grateful as every penny goes to help the wonderful scientists at JDRF continue the vital work they undertake in searching for the cure to Type 1 which would dramatically impact on the lives of our Miles and the thousands of other children with Type 1.
MARATHON UPDATE!!!!! PHOTOS ARE ORDERED AND WILL BE ADDED IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS OR AS SOON AS I RECEIVE THEM, SO PLEASE DO CHECK BACK!
You will be pleased to know that I not only joined the elite band of 20% of the runners who ran the entire marathon from start to finish without stopping - but I even beat my target time by nine minutes completing the course in 4 hours 21 minutes 06 seconds!
Meantime this page remains open until 25th July and I will be updating our total and adding notes/photos so please do check back!
STOP PRESS - having been stranded in Spain by the Volcano we finally arrived home 8 days late at 1200hrs Friday 23rd April after a 36 hour journey with no sleep home from Andalucia via mpv/coach/ferry/coach and cab. Hardly ideal prep for Sunday!
TEAM MILES: We have quite a dinky crew coming along tomorrow - if you fancy experiencing the marathon atmos and seeing me in the peak of fitness (for once!) you have our contact nos. or email moira.stewart@sky.com
SPANISH WARM WEATHER TRAINING - until the volcano burst the training was fantastic and I even took a few photos on my 20 mile slow run Sunday 4th April which are above. The Spanish do do warm weather and awesome terrain, however they don't do level roads as you can see from the photos -talk about hill runnning!
LATEST: Having got back at 1200hrs yesterday I dashed off to the Marathon Expo to grab my running number - and am about to head over to a mate's in Blackheath now to rest, carbo load and hydrate ahead of the second hottest marathon ever on Sunday - thank you to every single one of you who has supported the vital research by JDRF's scientists which will continue to bring my Miles and the tens of thousands of children like him with Type 1 closer to the cure.
££££££££££ - Wow! Thank you everyone for smashing through out target! And in case you haven't had a moment to donate yet and would like to please do - the page stays open until 25th July and all monies raised help JDRF's amazing scientists continue their amazing work.
If I don't get a chance to add any further updates before tomorrow - incidentally no thanks to Just Giving which doesn't allow use from iphone even on it's new app - boooo!!! - this one's for you Miles - I love you my beautiful boy!!!
I will in any event update you with how it went either tomorrow afternoon or Monday and then add photos over the next few days.
Firstly a huge thank you on behalf of Miles, Moo and I for all the very generous donations so far! Every penny raised helps JDRF's scientists continue their fine work searching for the cure for Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes with all the wonderful difference that could make to the lives of children like Miles. You have donated nearly £2200.00 so far - thank you!!!!
If this is your first visit to my page the reason I am running the Marathon is directly below this update...
UPDATE- TIMELINE: 23rd April - 36 hours to go!!
You are looking at me underway on my first official Half Marathon. In the freezing rain of Wokingham on Sunday 21st February. I ran my first Half Marathon in 1 hour 51 minutes which I have to say I was pretty chuffed with! A big shout to my running partner and mr motivator Doug for running with me.
My next official Half Marathon was Sunday 7th March and was called the 'Steyning Stinger' along the Sussex Downs. It was a gloriously sunny but really cold morning with a windchill factor of nearly minus 10! This I was just happy to get round in one piece and without injuring myself as it features severely sharp hill climbs and dangerous terrain. However it is easy to appreciate why it is a favourite of runners in training for the Marathon as it really builds up your stamina - ouch!
Last Sunday 21st March I added fifteen minutes and two miles to my previous personal best running 20.89 miles (33.42 kilometers) in 3 hours 19 minutes!
The big day is now only a month away so if you haven't got around to sponsoring me and would like to please do!
This Sunday 28th March I am running my longest run before the day itself when I attempt 21.5 miles of the actual route itself except with one major difference, the roads will not be closed to traffic, humans, roadworks etc.etc.!
Then we are off to our house in Spain for a fortnight's warm weather training then back for a final week's light training then it's the big day itself - which I am so looking forward to!
It would be great to smash my target by Race Day so please dig deep and anything you can add to the total will be much appreciated by Miles and all the children with Type 1 - thanks!
NOW - WHY I AM RUNNING THE MARATHON
As a friend of Moira and I, you will no doubt have encountered our lovely 10 year old son Miles. On August 17 last year Miles was diagnosed with Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes.Unlike Type 2 Adult On Set Diabetes (which represents around 95% and rising of all cases of Diabetes) and which is almost exclusively brought on by lifestyle choices and is thankfully largely manageable by revised lifestyle choices, Type 1 is a life long insulin dependent chronic condition which science has still to identify the cause of.
Because of the total lack of warning (Miles had been drinking loads of water and going to the loo constantly for the previous fortnight) this was a bombshell which knocked us for six, and five months on is still proving really difficult to adjust to.
Needless to say the one person who just rose above it .... and still does, just getting on with it ....is Miles.
Hopefully in the next month or so Miles will be fitted with an insulin pump which offers one injection each three days rather than 4 a day, a more accurate and less invasive introduction of insulin into the bloodstream, and the pump will also provide continuous blood glucose readings which should mark a dramatic improvement in managing his levels.
Since diagnosis we have been lucky enough to have had not just the support of Miles diabetes nurse and consultant, as well as you our friends, but also the fine people at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). JDRF, a charity set up by parents of children with Type 1, exists to find the cure for type 1 diabetes and its complications, and is the world's leading charitable funder of type 1 diabetes research. The research undertaken so far has made great strides towards these objectives. Please do visit www.jdrf.org.uk The research JDRF has undertaken, over £600 million worth so far, is making genuinely massive strides in both the improvement of care for people with Type 1, but also towards the cure. It is actually not beyond the realms of possibility that through the seismic advances in scientific research a cure may be found in Miles' lifetime which would mean the world of difference to him and the 350,000 other Type 1 sufferers in the UK alone. A figure which is rising alarmingly in children, cases in under 5's having quadrupled in the last fifteen years and is rising by 4% a year.
Yes, to help raise funds for this vital research I have been lucky enough to secure a place in ‘Team Pingu’ (Pingu is JDRF’s mascot) running the 2010 Virgin London Marathon (although I may not be feeling so 'lucky' after 26 miles!) We are 134 runners, all sporting Pingu Vests, including 9 people running with Type 1 diabetes.
Currently running 4/5 days a week with long runs on Saturday or Sundays bizarrely I am (largely) really enjoying the training.
I am really noticing the increase in my fitness.
I am working really hard on my diet with porridge for breakfast, tuna on brown bread sandwiches for lunch and pasta for dinner. Dull but really working.
I am also getting really into my hydration routines, having invested in a really smart mini rucksack called a Camelbak which holds 2 litres of water which you drink by sucking on a free hanging lead as and when you like as you run, I can really feel the improvement in my hydration. Also I am getting really stuck into my energy gels which you take every 5 miles and also help keep your engine going.
My only fear remains injury, although so far I am feeling better and better. The daylight weekend runs are fine, the real struggle is crawling out of bed at 6am weekdays to hit the gym at 6:30, I use the gym as I can create and measure the hill gradients on the treadmill, the only problem being time! I usually have to rush through the workout all at the wrong pace in order not to be late for work. Unfortunately not getting home from work til 7.30-8-ish and then wanting to see Miles precludes evening sessions.
We would be extremely grateful of your support. Every penny helps JDRF move closer to the cure which could change the lives of thousands of children like Miles.
Since our first update and email we have been so grateful for all the kind support. You have donated nearly £1,800 already, thank you so much!! We have also had piles of pledges which hopefully will be appearing below over the next weeks. (nudge nudge!!)
If you are free on 25 April and fancy joining my cheerleading team headed up by Miles and Moira do let us know, we would love to see you!!! We are starting to get up quite a crew. There is even talk of a celebratory drink to follow.
Meantime whilst Eddie Izzard maintains that he ran no less than 43 marathons in 51 days by imagining a Grizzly Bear was snapping at his (for once not high) heels I am planning on imagining a large glass of Margaux and a dollop of Brie de Meaux atop an oatcake only inches in front of me as I chase the 26.2 mile flag!
We will update this page again shortly, meantime
Thank you on behalf of Miles (xxxx), Moira & I
Jonny Compton
(professional name Jonny Haywood)
.
