Thanks for visiting my fundraising page!!!

Well I'm happy to report that we all made it!!  YIPPEE!!!

As planned I ran the first half with my sisters Jo and Clare.  Neither of them had attempted a half marathon before but they both managed to run the whole way without stopping!  Go sister power!  (I've put a picture of us with our medals on my other page www.justgiving.com/susannahsmarathonattempt4arthurrank)

The full marathon route split off from the half at 13 miles and I have to admit I was surprised at how emotional I was to leave them, and rather overwhelmed at the prospect of running another 13 miles on my own! One of the downsides to the Nottingham festival of running is that the vast majority of people do the half marathon so having run surrounded by others you suddenly find yourself running with maybe only 2 or 3 people within 200m of you and only a handful of spectators cheering you on spread around the next 13 miles.  No atmosphere to make the going easier, just a long, lonely, long, empty, and did I say long - way to go!

Fortunately this is where my best friend Pete came to the rescue.  He was running the half marathon with his brother, but very unselfishly gave up going through the half marathon finish to catch me up and accompany me part of my way.  I'd only gone about 600m on my own after having left Jo and Clare when I heard a friendly voice behind me!!!  He valiantly ran with me until 16 miles - enough time for me to have got my head around the change in atmosphere and feel more positive about trying to keep going.  He then cut across the route and unbeknown to me, was able to meet be again at 23.5 miles ready to run the last 3 miles with me!  Again, a complete God send, as by this stage I was totally exhausted, my feet were absolutely killing me and I was really struggling.

The end result??  I might have felt DREADFUL at the end, but I did manage to run the whole 26.2 miles without stopping.  Ok - it was slow - 5hr 22min11sec - but I still managed to keep running the whole way so I'm happy!!  A MASSIVE achievement - made even better by the fact I'd promised myself that if I managed to keep running the whole way I'd NEVER have to attempt another marathon again! 

So THANK YOU to all you have supported me, with sponsorship, texts, emails etc - it really did make a difference and help me to keep going.  One comment left was 'never give up, never never give up, never never never give up' and I did end up reciting that to myself at some stages!

And of course, if you would still like to make a donation, then it's not too late!

As you know, running in memory of my Mum, this year I've been raising money for Game of 2 Halves (see http://www.christiansinsport.org.uk/go2h/index.htm for more info!) a fantastic project run by Christians in Sport that encourages people to use their sporting abilities to raise money for projects that use sport to serve and support communities in the third world.  My Mum always supported and encouraged me in my belief that God made me sporty for a reason and I know she would have thought that GO2H was a good thing to run a marathon for!

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Game of 2 Halves 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.

So please sponsor me now if you haven't already!!