Hello friends! 

 

I know you’re all busy people so here’s the short story of what’s going on.

 

1.     I’m doing the London marathon on the 17^th April

2.     I need to raise £1800 for Merlin

 

If that’s all you need to know, then please sponsor me without further ado! If  you’d like a bit more convincing, then please read on. 

 

This year, I had no intention of doing the London marathon.  I knew  February and March were going to be busy months at work and didn’t think I’d be able to commit to a heavy training schedule as well as mammoth fundraising efforts.

 

But then disaster struck.  As many of you know, I’m not really the runner in my family, my Dad is.  He’s run 64 marathons, getting in under 3hours when he was a bit younger – he’s 71 now and his last London marathon in 2010 was completed in just over 4 hours.

 

He is part of a very elite group called the Everpresents who have run every single London marathon since it started in 1981.  There are only 20 of them left in the group and obviously, it’s a group you can leave but you can’t join.

 

Earlier this year, following some months of pain Dad had a scan on his leg and it turns out he has osteoarthritis in his knee.  There is little to be done short of a knee replacement, which would mean an end to his running career.  Anyone who knows my Dad will realise what a big deal this is.

 

Despite all this, not wanting to leave the Everpresents gang (and being quite stubborn) he still plans to run this year’s race, even if it means hobbling round fairly slowly.  It sounds a pretty miserable prospect  so I thought that if I got a place we could do it together and at least he could have some company and encouragement.  (Ok, ok, enough with the sarky comments about my company adding to his woes.  Beggars can’t be choosers.  Sorry Dad.)

 

Anyway, I put the idea to Dad who didn’t seem totally horrified and the next day at work I discovered that someone had dropped out of the Merlin team (the charity I work for gets places for fundraisers).

 

It seemed like fate, so I snapped up the place while there was still time to change the lineup and, well, here I am, totally unprepared to run anything like 26.2 miles and with a lot of money still to raise! 

 

 The timing is completely rotten as I will be working abroad for most of the next few weeks leading up to the race (in roasting hot climates not conducive to marathon training...) but I am still undertaking some kind of running regime and hoping dearly that Dad doesn’t have to ditch me half way round for being a slow coach.  (Actually, that’s not true.  I’d give anything for Dad’s injury to disappear and him beat me as he usually does.)   At the moment he is still working to improve the length of time he can run for continuously, but is still a long way off his usual form.

 

So, having heard that sorry tale, if there’s any way at all that you can help, it would be hugely appreciated by me, my Dad and equally, by the charity I’m running for, Merlin. 

 

 They do some phenomenally good work bringing medical relief following emergencies and then, crucially, staying to see the job through.   For example they might run training for medical staff or work with governments to support the rebuilding of health systems which are often devastated by the emergency or barely existed in the first place. 

 

Just check out the stories of some of the health workers Merlin has supported such as Olga in the Central African Republic or Henrietta in Monrovia, Liberia

 

You can also take a look at the Merlin website for more details.

 

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for Merlin.

 

 Anything you can spare will make a big difference.

 

Thank you.

 

Jude

 

Update - 16th March

 

Looks like Dad will no longer be able to start the race.  He called me today to say that his knee has deteriorated.  He reckons that it would take him over an hour just to get from the nearest public transport drop off point to the start line as he can barely shuffle.   Really, really sad but he says that in a way, at least the decision of whether or not to risk running had been taken out of his hands - there's simply no way he'd be able to make it.  

 

Of course, part of him still thinks a miracle might happen and the knee might improve but I think realistically, he knows it's not likely.

 

This does of course mean I will have to actually run the darn thing rather than potter along at a gentle pace.  Training started off reasonably well but work's gone a bit crazy with an upcoming training course I’m running so I can't see myself keeping it up, especially not once I get to Thailand where it's hot season and I'll be working like crazy.  We shall see!

 

Update - 4th April

 

The saga continues!  Got an email from Mum this morning saying "Just to let you know that Dad got his xray and blood test  results back and there is nothing really abnormal. There is some wear on hip and pelvic bones but no more than would be expected in a man of his age and doc says that it shouldn't stop him being able to pick up running training."

 

Big relief and also seems to have given Dad a boost - his knee seems to have recovered a little bit and when I spoke to him earlier, he seemed to be thinking about trying to start the race after all.  Will probably have to walk most of it and will be in some pain, but this is a big turnaround from a few weeks back.

 

A lot could still go wrong between now and Sunday and of course, he could start but have to drop out, but the situation looks a lot, lot better than it did.  Keep your fingers crossed!!

 

Oh, and from my side - as predicted, training fell off dramatically since I got to Thailand.  It's hot season and that is properly hot!  Have barely managed over 6 miles at a time since I got here and didn't run at all during the training course I was coordinating.  Eek.