Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

As some of you may know (I have bored numerous friends, family members and complete strangers with my running schedule!) I am due to run in The London Marathon on Sunday April 25th 2010.  The reasons for deciding to try and complete this event are many and varied and I hope many of my friends (ie. you!) who read this page will help me to raise £2000 for the "Help the Hospices" Charity.

Reasons for Cecilia to run the marathon:

1. My dad died in May 2000 of pancreatic cancer aged 52.  As it is 10 years since his death I wanted to mark his anniversary with a positive event.  He was alive when I last ran the marathon and collected lots of sponsorship money for me so I'm afraid you all need to step in to replace his contribution to my fundraising!

2. Help the Hospices is a national charity which raises money for hospices and children's hospices.  Since my dad died my mum has been a volunteer at the Hospice in Scunthorpe (Lindsey Lodge) which cares for people in North Lincolnshire.  Hospices provide amazing care and invaluable support for many people, for the patients but also for their families and friends. 

3. Rosie, my much younger sister (with much longer legs) is also running the marathon with me in memory of our dad.  Those of you who know Rosie may find this news quite astonishing, I share your astonishment.  Therefore, I need to run with her in a supporting role.  If you would rather support Rosie's charity (Crisis) please feel free to visit her website. www.justgiving.co.uk/rosierunsthelondonmarathon

4. To get fit.  It seems that I have been pregnant for about 5 years.  Therefore, I decided it was time to get fit again.  Some people might go to the gym or go for a jog but I needed a bit of a bigger incentive - The London Marathon seemed like a good idea!(??)  The training schedule has been quite difficult to fit around three small children ( 5, George 3, Benedict 1) but it has given me the opportunity to escape on a fairly regular basis - "Mummy, why do you keep running away from us?" - and indulge in a bit of Sweaty Betty shopping.

5. My husband - I have been living off the "I ran a marathon once" story for 11 years now (London Marathon 1999 if you are interested).  Whenever I tell this story Piers always chips in with "Yes, in the last millennium!!"  Therefore to silence Piers and to provide me with another story along the lines of "I've run two marathons you know".

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