IT'S ONLY BLOODY TOMORROW!

Essentially at some point last year we thought it would be a great idea for us to engage in some group masochism for a worthy cause, and felt that doing an Ironman 70.3 (as in 70.3 miles in total) would be an efficient way of achieving this. After some research, we found the MarshMan triathlon in Lydd, Kent, on May 16th. In a nutshell this comprises:

A 1.9 km open water swim, a 92 km bike ride followed by a cheeky 21.1 km run (or half marathon) for good measure.

We are hoping to finish it in anything from 6 - 8 hours. Anyone who knows us may realise that triathlon experience is not exactly something that any of us are abundant in (see attached photo of Dave's last and only attempt), so starting our 'careers' with these distances is certainly not something that has come easily over the last few months of training! Less than 300 people are taking part so we will not be able to rely on disappearing into the crowd at any point either.

To help push us over the finish line, we thought it would be nice to raise money for a charity, which led us to Changing Faces:

Changing Faces are the leading UK charity supporting and representing people who have disfigurements to the face, hand or body from any cause. Their mission is to create a better and fairer world for people with disfigurements.

It is also a charity James has personally been engaged with since a very young age through a familial link. Its founder, James Partridge OBE, is of huge inspiration, having himself been injured in a car fire when he was 18 years old.  They have grown, since their inception in 1992, to a 25 strong group from a variety of backgrounds and will continue to grow and offer support via fund-raising events like this.

Their Individuals Programme aims to build the self-esteem and self-confidence of children, young people and adults with disfigurements.

Their Professionals Programme informs and trains professionals in health and social care, education and in the workplace to promote improved psycho-social care and prejudice-free employment and customer services for people with disfigurements.

Their Society Programme works with the general public, the media and cultural opinion-formers to promote face equality principles and bring about changes in attitudes and behaviours that limit the life prospects of people with disfigurements - you may have seen James Partridge reading the Five News recently http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuX4xFfFcQ0&feature=channel

You can click onto their website http://www.changingfaces.org.uk/Home if you would like to find out more.

Please feel free to give AS MUCH or as little as you like, but please do gift aid it - no expense to you, just Team Osbourne - Cable!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ANY CONTRIBUTION -- we will be posting photos of the event to give all those who dig deep a laugh.

James, Jenny, Dave, Claire and Tim


p.s. A taster of what Jenny and Claire will look like at the end: Sian Welch & Wendy Ingraham - The Crawl - 1997