I DID IT!!!!!!!!

5 hours 13mins!!!!  

It was an absolutely fantastic day!! After 5 months of training-I'm glad to get my pre-marathon life back!  Its been a long term goal of mine and as I celebrated a significant (shhh) birthday recently- its extra special that I'm doing it this year!

 

I now have pledged support totalling over £2,000 - and I'm now trying to get all my offline pledges in. So far I have sent just over £1,000 of my offline pledges to AMREF. It would be great to raise £2,600 for this charity- so if you haven't already donated please do so.

I've come a long way over the past 5 months- I started off pretty much hating running. I began running just 1 or 2 miles a day - back in November. I was inspired by a friend who lost about 2 stones in weight from running 3 miles a day. Well within two weeks I had increased my weekly mileage to 15 miles, and began to think seriously about running the marathon. In fact within three weeks of taking my first steps round south park I was intent on running the London marathon and was up late most nights surfing the net for a charity place.......filling out application forms and waiting for phone or email responses. Most charities had filled their places long ago.....it was proving even harder than training to find a charity that a) had places and b) wanted me. Moreover, I was adament that I wanted to support a development charity. I came across AMREF by accident -- I stumbled across them at a work event. AMREF  were at the University discussing their 3-year Katine project , which was extensively tracked by the Guardian ( See www.guardian.co.uk/katine ) AMREF's work is focused on  improving healthcare provision throughout Africa and it founded the famous ' Flying Doctors Service' of East Africa. According to WHO, nearly a million people die of malaria each year, with 95% of deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa, and the vast majority are children under five. A simple insecticide-treated mosquito net can prevent these deaths. In 2009 AMREF distributed some 9,000 nets in Mtwara in Tanzania, slashing malaria deaths significantly.

I am impressed with AMREF's work and was over the moon to find out that it still had places. They were very approachable and accepted my application immediately.  

Well if you follow my facebook moans and groans you'll know  that my training has had its ups and downs. After a great start I soon came to realise that progress is not a straight line relationship.......after knee problems- that at one point threatened my long runs altogether- and calve and heel problems- that have threatened my ability to walk on occasions....but I made it in the end! I hope to raise £2,000 and did want to finish in under 5 hours-though I'm happy with my time on the day- I ran all the way- no walking!! 

Thanks for visiting my page!  Please be as generous as possible but I genuinely welcome your support however much you can spare. 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 the charity.

Big thanks to those that have accompanied me on runs or have chatted or texted me during my long runs........you've all kept me going, even if you've only asked how my training is going, and hey I even want to thank the doubters- you know who you are-those of you who keep insisting that 'you can't believe I'm running the marathon!' - well you've all inspired me to keep going!