Thanks for taking the time to visit my page, and hopefully for helping me support a good mate and a great cause.

Why am I asking for your help? Well, I'll tell you. But first, let me take you back a little...

I first came to know of Dom Sinson somewhere around the age
of six or seven.  His name really struck me back then, probably because The Simpsons were big at the time, and his face was incredibly memorable, sporting as it did a perennial toothy grin. Although
we didn’t have much to do with each other in the first few years, we were nevertheless vaguely aware of each other’s existence.  At some point in my early formative years, I came to learn that Dom had a huge metal rod in his back from some previous back surgery, which as far as I was concerned, put him in the same league as f*****g
Wolverine.

We came up through junior school together, and crossed over
into the same senior school, but remained in different classes for most of it.

During the GCSE years, Dom used to stop by our form room most
mornings, to shoot the breeze with whoever was in there, and then blatantly copy out all the answers from other people’s homework.

Once we moved into 6^th form, Dom and I ended up in the same stream, our form-room a rickety old biology classroom, furnished with old polished wooden lab desks, gerbils, pipettes and what we thought was a
fish, that spent it’s whole day sucking on a rock (later named ‘Suck-on-a-rock’, and which was, on reflection, more likely some type of amphibian).

Although we’d been friendly during GCSE, it was during these
last two years of school that Dom and I cemented what will hopefully be a lifelong friendship. From that time on, it was quite common that our slightly motley crew of six (think in-betweeners), would be invited out to his family home in the countryside for some well earned end-of-the-week revelry. His family had a beautiful stone cottage in the middle of a quaint little English village, with plenty of room for us all to piss about and make a racket without disturbing the rest of the house. Friday nights, birthdays, New Years Eves - any excuse really - we’d be round at Dom’s, making a nuisance of ourselves.

It was through these various cottage escapades that I came to
know Dom’s Dad, Brett, a little. Although it’s a few years back now, I remember Brett as just a straight up cool dude. Having grown up in the West Indies, whenever I encountered Brett he was always sporting the same beaming smile as his son. He had an easy-going Caribbean way about him and a slight lilt to his voice, and although he was very successful and respected in his field (I always had the feeling that he was something of a heavyweight in the dental field), to me he always came across as very down to earth, caring and genuinely interested
in what was going on in our lives. Even back then, I used to look up to Brett as something of a model family man. It was plain to see that he was a tremendously loving father and husband, and despite his work, seemed to spend a great deal of time with his family. From the way Dom talks about his Dad, I’ve always got the impression that Brett has always been very present in Dom and his sister’s lives, always supportive, interested, and ready to give advice if sought. I remember it was often difficult to pin Dom down, with the Sinsons holidaying here or having golf trips there, as they were wont to do, always together. Brett was always generous to us bunch of miscreants as well, giving up his time, home and pantry whenever we visited. And whenever there was an important family milestone over the years – a wedding anniversary, an important birthday, or some other landmark, we were always included and made to feel part of the extended family, toasting along with everyone else under the shade of the garden marquis.

Last year, Brett was diagnosed with a pretty nasty brain tumour (glioblastoma). I only know some of the details, but I do know that the
number of treatment options have been pretty limited, in part due to a lack of research. Around a fortnight ago, in a bid to raise money and awareness for brain tumour research, and as a tribute to his Dad, Dom ran the London Marathon, crossing the line in an amazing 3hr40mins. AND despite having no functioning core muscles on his left side, a torn shoulder ligament, and a foot injury. In spite of everything, Dom held in and smashed out those 26 miles out like an absolute machine. To support him in his quest to raise money for the cause, and although it is in no way comparable to Dom’s mammoth feat, I thought I would take on the Sydney Half myself, in the hope that some of you might be
kind enough to support me by parting with a little of your hard earned cash, with all of the money going to Dom’s nominated cause.

Many of you will know I’ve never been a runner. Although I’ve run this distance before in training now (which depending on your preference is
13.1 miles or 21.1km), this will be my first competitive half where I’m going to give it everything I’ve got and try and utterly punish myself – basically run myself into the ground by the end. The race is this coming Sunday 21st, and will mark the end of 12 weeks of (slightly haphazard) training which has essentially taken me from 1 or 2 small runs a month (if that) to hopefully running a 1hr40 or faster half.

If you would like to help me support my mate, just follow the
link on this page.

As added incentive, anyone that givesmore than £25 would also be entitled to a limited edition Sunil mug, as sportedabove by yours truly (you may have to wait until I’m back in the UK though).

Much love,

Mark

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. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.