<p>&nbsp;</p> <p>April 17th 2011</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>As you know my bones weren t quite up to the challenge...building strength back but not quite at the stage where I can run a marathon... I will continue to train and start with the half marathon on the 9th of October... knowing that I might not run it, I didn t send link out for sponsorship requests...but a few lovely people were proactive and donated ahead- I felt endebted towards you and therefore I did, as I had committed to, marathon distance on an eliptical machine today - 45km in 3hrs... I felt I owed you this much... I ll send you some of the uglliest pictures of me ever in action - lost 2.5kg of sweat whilst undertaking this challenge... not a pretty sight I tell u - the money you donated will go towards my half marathon fundraising and hopefully full marathon next year. Thank you so much for your support. Lots of love. Mel&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>March 2011</p> <p>Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.</p> <p><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">Empirical evidence suggests that all you lovely people are more likely to donate if I write a nice narative, convey "my story", make it "personal"...&nbsp; a picture "in action" would also increase donations apparantly-&nbsp;&nbsp; unfortunately or fortunately, I don t have a picture of me sweating and out-of-breath - not sure it would attract the right kind of donations anyway-&nbsp; so here is "my journey" instead; please feel free to skip if you feel the countless hours of training I have put in to prepare for this event are sufficient to appeal to your generosity... </span></p> <p><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">As anyone who ever saw me running for the bus or otherwise&nbsp;would be able to testitfy, for quarter of a century or so couldn t run, not even a&nbsp;100m - literally; in mid 2009, for some unrecalled reason, began&nbsp;to run home from work - 6.5km- first attempt left me breathless, swearing in a less than lady-like manner&nbsp;and limping for&nbsp;a week...&nbsp;but within 3 months was running 20- 25km, regularly clocking 50 to 70km per week!&nbsp;I was hooked: running&nbsp; is/was pretty much the thing I am / was&nbsp;worst at (singing excepted!) so if I could run twenty plus kilometres, wondered what else I could do. I always knew my mind was stronger than my body but never realised the extent until I&nbsp;began running- it is a fine line between will-power and&nbsp; stubborness though and it is perhaps the latter which drove me to ignore pains in my knees and continue to run til no longer could regardless of my determination to: sustained small fractures in both my knees from repetitive shocks (i.e.: running on concrete).&nbsp;Cute Orthopaedic surgeon&nbsp; ordered me to&nbsp;stay off all impact sports for a while&nbsp;which saw me take out my first gym subscription ever to access both pool and eliptical machine.&nbsp;Since, as much as&nbsp;I miss watching the world unfold in London's parks,&nbsp;I ve ran marathon distance on an eliptical machine (and watched more <a href="mailto:cr@p">cr@p</a> on tv than I ever knew existed!). I&nbsp;am often asked&nbsp;how I cope with the monotony,&nbsp;but it is precisely&nbsp;the repetitive nature of running I&nbsp;enjoy:&nbsp;&nbsp;putting one foot in front of the other&nbsp;requires little thinking, leaving&nbsp;one's mind free to wonder off... Often it is the only time I can think clearly,&nbsp;gather my thoughts without&nbsp;interference...and if I happen to think too much about something, I ll run until I am so tired, I no longer think - keeps me somewhat sane through life's ups and downs:). Some may dispute the sanity claims... ah well, if nothing else then, running tightens my "derriere": "weak soul, firm butt" as my aunt once put it!&nbsp; </span></p> <p><span style="font-family: &quot;Arial&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;; color: black; font-size: 11.5pt;">For now, hoping my bones are not too weak to take up the challenge- only just started running back on concrete and can not yet tell whether my bones will cope - should they not, meaning I am unable to run on April 17th, I commit to all my donors to do one of the following depending on state of health:</span></p> <p><br />- Run the Venice marathon in the fall</p> <p>-Walk London Marathon April 17th</p> <p>- Do marathon distance (42.2 km) on eliptical machine on April 17th</p> <p>-Run London Marathon next yr (having enquired: if I am unable to run marathon this year due to injury St John's ambulance will automatically secure a place for me next yr and re-direct all the sponsorpship raised for the 2011 London Marathon to the 2012)</p> <p>So please give as much as your purse allows and in exchange I commit to undertake as much efforts as my bones will allow -&nbsp; either may be symbolic, its the&nbsp; contribution (!) that counts!</p> <p>No matter the size,&nbsp; if you are a UK tax payer and donate via justgiving, GiftAid will be claimed on every contribution meaning your donation will be grossed up by your marginal rate of income tax (e.g- for a 40% income tax sponsor, St John's Ambulance will receive &pound;1.40 for every pound donated). If you are not a UK tax-payer, donating via just-giving may not be the most tax-efficient way - may be best to transfer funds directly to me - pls drop me an email if you would like to discuss options.</p> <p>Thanking you in advance for your support</p> <p>Mel</p> <p>PS-&nbsp;As grateful as I am&nbsp;for your support to St John's ambulance, your support on the day would mean even more to me - if you are in London on April 17th would love to&nbsp;know you are in the crowd: it would mean a lot to me... &nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>