Thanks for visiting my fundraising page.
Well here we are. Another year, another marathon. I vowed after the London Marathon that I would never do another one again. The training was immense, something I had never put myself through before, some of the days I went out it was down right horrible, the cold, the rain, the wind. And the distances going out at the weekend 20 miles on a Sunday just weren't fun.
But the chap on the right, my good friend, Mr David Bye, asked me if I wanted to do Edinburgh. I had heard a few nightmare stories about last years event, being windy and horrible. But after thinking about it for about 5 minutes, I said Yes. So come the 31st of May we will be lining up together, and finishing together.
This year I've decided to also run for St. Clare's Hospice. They are based in Jarrow (South Tyneside), and it's a locally run place. I wasn't aware that this place existed and what they did, until my Auntie was admitted here in her final weeks with non-Hodgkin lymphoma(a type of cancer). In her last few days she received excellent care and attention and provided alot of comfort. Later I found out that the hospice relies heavily on donations and thought trying to raise some funds for them would be a nice gesture, even if it's just a small amount. I wasn't going to collect for any charity for this event, but with what's gone on, I think it's the best thing I could do. My auntie also helped alot of different people in the region in many different ways with the careers service and working at different universities. So like her, I'm giving back a bit.
So if you have a spare couple of bob. Then I would appreciate any donation, just to keep this place going for others, who may also need it. For further information about St Clare's Hospice, please see this link: http://www.stclareshospice.co.uk/
re: The training is going well. I however I do feel like forest gump, and I do know how he feels when he said I've been running for 3 years, 2 months, 14 days and 16 hours... some of my Sunday runs have been like that. But I have completed two 20 milers and I need to do one more. I'm not the fastest by any means, but hopefully I will get round with my mate. I as yet haven't been chased by Seagulls, which is a good thing.
Thanks for reading, Steve.
Update: 22/4/2009 - Really big thanks who sponsored so far. Really tremendous effort and can't thank people enough.
Update 26/4/2009 - Just finished the Sheffield Half Marathon today in 1:41:48... over the moon with the time. Thought I would only do under 2 hours suspecting the course would be difficult and conditions being really sunny and hot. Hardwork, but the pace we set off at proved to be good for the race. Amazed to get so far under 2 hours, proves a solid base is there at the moment. Cheers for all getting the money up to £228 so far. Tremendous effort.
Update 02/05/2009 - Well the final 20 miler was completed today. Definetly hit the wall today and mentally it was a struggle. Also got terrified by a few bumble bees - Why does nature not like me? Anyway, some photos taken from the Sheffield Half, the last few were taken sprinting for the finish line, thought I'd share them. http://www3.marathon-photos.com/scripts/event_entry.py?event=Sports%2FCPUK%2F2009%2FSheffield+Half+Marathon&match=799
Update 11/05/2009 - 46 mile was ran last week. A hard week of training, and some pain in the legs and soreness from the runs. From now on it is tapering down to the big day on the 31st of May in Edinburgh. With the amount of money raised so far its time to put my sensible head on and keep myself right for the big day. Completed 3 x 20 miler runs in 4 weeks and half marathon distances inbetween. Hamstrings feel like they have been shot. So the tapering will help me recover and get ready for the big day.
Update 14/05/2009 - Some more brilliant donations have gone on. Big ones coming from a collection at SETA (Sunderland Engineering Training Association Ltd) which was a very kind gesture, which I'm over the moon about, donation from Louise Whitehouse (another massive thank you) and also Jan Dixon at work helped me to run a charity dress down day at Sage today (Sage UK Limited). And it's now up to a staggering amount so far and what more can you say than a massive "Thank you". If I'm flagging on either training day or struggling on the day, this will definetly keep me plodding on...
Update 22/05/2009 - Well a Friday night, no beer and a week to go. An element of doubt is creeping in and every little twinge is giving me massive paranoia. It's normal I suppose, but taking thousands of vitamins and avoiding anyone with a sniffle like they have the bubonic plague is going on at the moment. It's getting near the day and 8 days, 14 hours, 27 minutes and 8 seconds to go to the marathon. But the great news is that I'm up to around £1,000 generated for St. Clare's. An amount I never even dreamed about that could be raised. I know I get wrong for being grateful all the time (Ms Rogers :0) ), but most of the money has come from people who are just normal folk who don't drive Ferrari's or earn footballers wages. So again, a massive thank you! I'm going through the tapering stages, which means lowering your mileage to a normal amount (30 miles a week) and not doing much. The body has to be rested for the day. So things, touch wood, are going to plan.
Update 30/5/2009 - Well a day before the race. Nervousness is creeping in due to the heat in the North East today. What a cracking day, but not for a marathon. Been advised to have a hydration strategy in place, but if it's as hot as this I will be finishing each lucozade bottle before chucking it. Anyway, looking forward to weekend, definetly the sunday, hopefully crossing the line. Will have a full race update on here when I finish. Also just surpased the £1000 mark with the gift aid, with the help of the uncle, auntie, cousins and some tremendous effort from everyone. Thanks!!!!!! The pipes are calling, must jog...
Thank you all! 
Don't Give Me Sunshine - Give me rain - Race Day 31/05/2009 - Hell
Honest to god this has been one of the hardest runs in my life. When we turned up in Edinburgh it was hot, and it was getting hotter. The only thing I can compare it to was Ibiza a few years ago. You were just sitting and the sweat was rolling down your shirt. Both families met up on the Saturday evening and it was a good evening. But all that was going through each of the lads heads that were racing was the extreme heat of the weekend and this was not a weekend to run a marathon in. We knew it, but we still did it. I actually felt very nervous about it because I had never raced this 20 mile in this heat. I was that nervous, petrified, so much so that I didn't get much sleep on the night before the run. We met up in the morning at 8.00am on the day of the race and it was really hot then. We started of for the first couple of miles going past the Meadowbank Stadium in Edinburgh and the sweat was dripping off us. I can't remember much but talking to a few lasses on the course and laughing about the amount of vaseline my mate had put on, and the likelyhood that he could slide over the finish line from a mile away. Anyway everthing was going smothly up to 13 mile stage and doing a 1 hr 50 minutes for the half. Which was averaging around 8.30 pace. Fast, but quite comfortable, but we were being sensible taking the water onboard. Then it was getting hotter. Around 16 mile a major point in the race totally flattened us. We knew we had a mental barrier of going out a certain distance and then returning for the remaining 10 mile. But at the point we were expecting to turn we didn't and got redirected further on down the road. Mentally for a lot of people this was a massive blow as we could see runners going off further in the distance. We wanted to turn back, but we had to continue down this road exactly in the same direction. I actually repeatedly said this is as close to hell I've been. Both myself and my mate were struggling with the heat at this point and we hit a place called Gosford Hall. This was around the 17 mile mark and the heat was getting close to 26 to 27degree's celcius, but felt closer to 31. It could have been 31. There was no shade and I could taste the salt on my face it was that zapping. At 18 mile coming out of Gosford Hall we saw a lad collapsed on the floor. The lad was flat out. Then another 200 yards down the road another lad was flat out. Then another, then another. This happened all the way along the route. Both of us were saying, right, stuff the time, it's survival. It's not going to be right one of us collapsing, we have to be sensible. And to be honest, the emergency staff weren't around. Lads were flat out on the side, but no ambulances or St Johns crew. Honestly if one of us had gone down, we would have been in serious trouble. Then we hit 19 mile and heard that the adjacent side of the road who were at 16 mile had run out of water and telling people expecting the water that none was available, so people who were behind us were running in this heat expecting a drink and then finding they had none. Twenty mile I had to stop. I felt physically sick and just felt like sitting down. This was severe heat stroke and I had to stop and walk. I felt absolutely terrible. My mate stopped as well, and it took a bit to get going again. 22 mile and he wanted to walk. At 20 mile we were at 3 hrs. This was what we wanted. But asking for 6 for an hour in the way we were feeling it wasn't possible. We walked for a few mile. And jogged a bit. This was repeated for the rest up to 24 mile. Then decided that this was a wrong day for going for it. We ran for the the remaining 2 mile or so, but it every step was "are you ok, do you want to walk?"... we had to... if we didn't who knows. In the final mile we gave it a tremendous effort, but I have never been so happy to cross the line in my life. I actually hugged my mate as I was that over the moon. 4 hours 27. We had spent a good proportion of the race from 21 miles walking. But we had to because of the heat. The disappointing thing was that we were supposedly going to get a pint of beer at the end, but they had ran out. Got to say this was the closest I've been to collapsing, and it wasn't good. Before the race I had promised to both my father and David's father that I would take it easy and take care of my mate. However, I think both of us actually took care of one another. If he wasn't there, I may have gone. And I hope he felt if I wasn't there, he may have gone. This wasn't a marathon, it was survival, and got to say, tremendous team work. Overall I've raised £840.72 and have £182.97 with gift aid. A total amount of £1023.69. And I believe with gestures made by people to my uncle we have raised over £3000 for St Clare's Hospice. A big thank you to all. And honest to god, this time, I'm not doing another marathon. Hit me over the head if I mention it again.
The next bit is the bit about gift aid, so please give it.
Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor me: St. Clare's Hospice 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.
