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Two years ago I joined my local running club, Ripon Runners. Through the club I met Ray Johnstone and heard the tragic story of his son Shaun, who died of an undiagnosed brain tumour at the age of 16.
Since Shaun's death, Ray and his wife Paula have created the Shaun Lee Johnstone Fund (part of the Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust ) and have raised over £30,000 for vital research into brain tumours.
I work for Wolseley UK and this year the Shaun Lee Johnstone Fund is one of the two local charities supported by Ripon employees of the company.
Since joining the running club I've completed a few races, from 10km to half-marathon, including the Shaun Lee Johnstone Memorial 10 miles (see the photo), but I've never attempted a full marathon.
So this year, on Sunday May 23rd, I'm having a go at the Edinburgh Marathon and, in doing so, I'm raising money for the Shaun Lee Johnstone Fund.
Update:
March
Training got off to a slow start due to the heavy snow, but it is now in full swing and I'm currently running around 25 miles a week. During April I'm aiming to increase this to about 35 miles.
The last weekend in March saw myself and 5 colleagues from Wolseley competing in relay teams at the Stokesley Duathon, so recently I've been trying to improve my speed over 5km for the two fast (!) running elements of the course. Thankfully that's over and I can concentrate on trudging longer distances around beautiful North Yorkshire in preparation for the marathon.
April
The mileage is on the up this month, culminating in a couple of long runs over the last two weekends. The regular email from Edinburgh Marathon suggests I need to do around three hours of 'easy' running and practice my fuelling and hydration strategies. I don't think running for three hours will be easy for me, even if I take a pork pie and a tin of pop with me, but I'll give it a go...
25/04/10
Managed over 20 miles today but 'easy' wasn't the first word that sprang to mind! Totally kn*ckered at the end of it and had to walk for about half a mile, but the average pace was just on track for my target time so I'm reasonably happy. Final long run next weekend - hopefully I can manage it without walking.
May
One last long run before the distances start to reduce.
02/05/10
Race day is only 3 weeks away...
My last long run today. Changed my fuelling strategy (maybe I shouldn't be experimenting at this stage...) and had half a cold pizza for breakfast before setting off. The route was just over 20 miles but I managed to run all of it this time. Slightly quicker than last week too, so I'm feeling better. I think the pizza must have done the trick!
09/05/10
2 weeks to go...
10 miles today - racing in the Ripon Midsummer 10 - a hilly route around Studley Deer Park and Fountains Abbey. I've done this route a few times in training, but not the race itself, and it is definitely much harder in the race!
13/05/10
I received my race number, timing chip and other admin stuff today. It makes it seem a bit more real now - and a bit more scarey!
16/05/10
Only 1 week to go. Crikey.
Just a gentle trot round the deer park today. Whilst it is a pleasant change, I feel like I ought to be doing more. However, all the training plans state that the mileage must taper off in the last two weeks to avoid over training, so I'm just doing what I'm told.
20/05/10
Last run before the big one. Only 3.5 miles at a steady pace, just to keeps the legs moving. My main effort now is in eating, or carbo-loading as the professionals call it...
23/05/10 - Race Day!
It's all over now :-)
The weather was brilliant for spectating but far too hot for running. It started off quite cool and overcast but soon the sun broke through and the temperature soared. The last few miles were really hard work - I was desparately tired but I knew I was close to my target time so I daren't stop for a rest. The crowd were very encouraging: cheering the runners on, offering jelly babies and spraying us with hosepipes to cool us down!
I finished just inside my target of 4 hours, with a time of 3:57:56, so I'm pleased with that. It means I don't have to do another one now.
Thanks to everybody who sponsored me - at the time of writing you've donated over £650 to this worthy cause.
Thank you
I'm really grateful for your donation, whatever the amount, and it will help prevent more deaths caused by brain tumours.
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