Hi, thank you for coming to our fundraising page - Yes it is true - Dan is going to run a marathon!
Many of you will quite rightly wonder why on earth Dan is attempting this and why I am also going to run again when I definitely said after London 2008 ‘never again!’
As many of you know, Daniel and I sadly lost our stepmother Melanie on December 21st 2008. Melanie died very suddenly, aged 51, after suffering a major brain haemorrhage. This was a huge shock and loss to all of the family, especially Daniel and I, our Dad Don and little sister Sophie.
Melanie was cared for at Hurstwood Park NHS hospital, a specialist centre for Neuroscience. The staff and surgeons were fantastic, and supported us all through what was a very difficult time. In memory of Melanie we want to raise as much money as possible for "The Hurstwood Park League of Friends". The League of Friends is solely concerned with raising funds for and highlighting the good work of Hurstwood Park Neurological Centre. As a charitable trust, all monies raised go directly towards purchasing equipment for the Hurstwood Park which directly benefits patients.
Dan and I have chosen to run the New York Marathon as "the big apple" was one of Melanie's favourite cities and was also her last holiday in December last year. We know she would have made the trip over to watch us had she been here, some would say a great excuse to visit her favourite shops - but actually she would have been there in the freezing cold to cheer Dan and I on, and tell us we were mad!
We (well Di) has been training hard over the last few months, and we will be continuing to pound the streets of London, and do many laps of Richmond park as we lead up to November 1 in the hope that we will both cross the finishing line in one piece!
We are both running the Nottingham Half Marathon on September 13th - so will provide a update on our progress then!
We really appreciate your support, and we hope to see some of you in NY in November - what a great excuse for a pre Christmas shopping trip! (Something Melanie would have been the very first to encourage!)
Dan and Di
xx
