Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page
I am raising money for Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust SDBTT, who are the UK’s leading charity dedicated to brain tumour research and patient information and support. Since the charity was established in 1996, they have supported over 50 high quality, peer-reviewed medical research projects across the UK, with funding in excess of £6 million. Their research is leading to a better understanding of the ways in which brain tumours develop and how they can best be treated.
When my brother Ian died, aged 32 on 13th October 2006, due to a brain tumour, it was a hard time for all who knew Ian. His wife Angela, set up a fund in his memory with SDBTT to help raise money and awareness for brain tumours. This got me thinking how I could help, to raise money for the fund, I decided to run a half marathon, it would be my first half marathon. In 2007 I ran my first marathon, by the end of 2010, I had run 9 marathons, each of the marathons began with a different letter, this got me thinking, why not try to do the alphabet in marathons?
I looked at marathons and worked out a time scale. Below is my alphabet in marathons. (some might change)
A- Amsterdam (completed), B- Berlin (completed), C- Clarendon Way (completed), D- Duchy 13 March 2011 (completed), E- Exmoor 16 April 2011(completed), F- Fairlands Valley, G- Gower Peninsula (completed), H- Halstead, I- Isle of White, J- Jersey, K- Kiel, L- London (Completed), M- Mablethorpe, N- Neolithic (completed), O- Oslo, P- Prague (completed), Q- Quebec City, R- Rome (completed), S- Shakespeare, T- Toronto (completed), U- Utah Valley, V- Vienna, W- White Peak, X- Xiamen Jan 2018, Y- Yorkshireman, Z- Zurich
Thinking of the time scale, for my first marathon I was 29 years old, so I thought about 10 years, making the last marathon just before my 40th. The Xiamen marathon in China is in January normally at the start around the 2nd, my birthday is the 9th. The plan is to do 2 marathons a year, one year I will have to do 3, then in January 2018 the Xiamen would complete my alphabet in marathons.
To see how my training is going visit http://myepicalphabetmarathons.blogspot.com/ You can join my group on facebook: A-Z Marathons Amsterdam to Zurich, where you can see what events I am entered for and links to the events websites. You can follow me on twitter (matthewwiddup) and you can view videos of my runs on you tube (alphabetmarathons)
Thank you for your support, it is not only appreciated by my family and me, it makes a real difference for SDBTT, who not only support research into brain tumours, but also offer support to patients diagnosed with a brain tumour as well as their families and carers.
Money raised through this page will be for SDBTT. I will keep the page updated with my progress, it might be a 7 year project, but it will be some under taking to do 2 marathons a year, plus all the training and staying injury free.
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. once again thank you for your support :-)
