FINAL UPDATE 26.4.10

Hi everyone

The marathon yesterday was a brilliant experience. The crowds were amazingly supportive and the sheer number of runners, all raising money for their chosen charity, was really inspiring. Thanks to your generosity, the total for The Holdsworth Memorial Hospital is now well over £1000 (including gift aid), which is absolutely fantastic – thank you!

In terms of how the race went for me personally, I won’t deny it was gruelling. My time was 4.30.42, more than 45 minutes slower than in 2008, but in a way I’m just as pleased with my achievement this year, because it was so much harder, both physically and mentally. I went through the halfway stage in just under 2 hours, so you can see how my lack of distance training over the last 2 months affected me in the later stages. (Note to self and others – don’t run a marathon when you’re recovering from an injury! Although I don’t for a minute regret my decision to go ahead.) As the race went on and my leg muscles started to tighten horribly, I stopped being concerned about the time and just focused on running the whole way (i.e. not having to walk any of it). I managed it, even though I was down to 12 minute miles by the end! As the sign for the last 400m approached, I thought there was a chance I could slip under 4.30, so I pushed for the line, only to cramp badly at the 200m mark (I guess this was my legs telling me they’d had enough). So in the end I half ran, half hobbled over the finish, but I wasn’t going to let the home straight beat me after enduring 26 miles of pain!!

So a final thanks for all your donations. Your support really meant a lot when I was struggling to keep going yesterday. I can barely move today, but the stiffness will fade long before the memories.

Adele

 

UPDATE 21.4.10

Just 4 days to go! Thanks so much to everyone who has sponsored me. It really does mean a lot and I'm sure will spur me on in the last 5 miles when I hit 'The Wall'.

In case you're watching the coverage, my running no. is 29943 and I'll be on the Green Start. It'll be hard to spot me among the 40,000 or so others, but you never know!

Adele

 

Hi everyone

Thank you for visiting my fundraising page. I am running in the London Marathon on 25 April, for The Holdsworth Memorial Hospital in . The hospital, which celebrated its centenary year in 2006, has a motto of “Service with Compassion” and provides for those who cannot pay for medical care, who have AIDS and are refused treatment elsewhere and who live in outlying villages and cannot travel into the city. No-one in need is turned away. (You can read more about the hospital at this website: http://csihmh.org/index.htm.)

Running for The Holdsworth means a lot to me as my family has supported it for many years. My grandmother, Freda Langlois, who died earlier this year, used to have lodgers while my grandfather was away on business and, in the summer of 1961, the brother and his wife of The Holdsworth's chief pharmacist stayed with her for two weeks. From then on my grandmother faithfully supported the hospital's work by collecting and packaging postage stamps, which could be sold in to raise vital funds – the stamps were particularly sought after due to their relative rarity. More recently, my home church, , , has adopted The Holdsworth as one of its overseas support projects.

My training hasn't gone brilliantly this time (I first ran the marathon in 2008, also for The Holdsworth), as for the last five weeks I’ve done very little running due to a strained leg muscle. But on Easter Monday I ran a half marathon and the leg felt almost back to normal and I managed another 16 miles on Saturday, so now it’s all systems go for !

The hospital relies heavily on overseas donations to cover the costs of equipment and training. If you would like to give, your donation will make a real difference to the people of and its surrounding area. Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: The Methodist Church Fund for World Mission (which administers funding for The Holdsworth Memorial Hospital) will receive your money faster and, if you are a taxpayer, you can Gift Aid your donation.

Thanks so much for your support.

Adele