Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page with a view to raising funds for Sheffield Childrens Hospital.

Many of you will already know some of the story of my eldest son Alex. On 20th February 2009 Alex, 9 at the time, was diagnosed with a brain tumour. He was immediately admitted to Sheffield Childrens Hospital and underwent emergency brain surgery on 25th February to remove a large benign tumour. The surgery was successful although Alex was left with some remedial tumour tissue due to its proximity to his brain stem. In October 2010, Alex underwent a 2nd operation to further debulk the residual tumour which was blocking one of the ventricles in his brain and causing fluid to accumulate and pressure to build up. 

Since that time Alex has been under the watchful eye of the hospital but, pleasingly, his routine checks have now been scaled back from 6-monthly to annually. Now nearing his 15th birthday, Alex continues to thrive. His GCSE's are next year and prospects are good for some decent grades. Plus, at 6 feet 2 and with size 13 feet, he no doubt comes over as a formidable opponent when sparring at his local gym!

As the 5th anniversary of his original diagnosis has just passed I thought I'd mark this by participating in five 10K runs in the Sheffield area and raise further funds for the Sheffield Children's Hospital. The schedule is:

30th March, Age Concern 10K at Graves Park
12th April, Sheffield Festival of Athletics 10K at Rother Valley
27th April, Neurocare 10K at Rother Valley
13th July, Western Park Hospital 10K at Graves Park
28th Sept, Bupa Great Yorkshire Run, Sheffield

My aspiration is to break 50 minutes for each run although with the state of my knees I'll just be happy to crawl over the finish line!

First run complete - Graves Park proved more of a hilly challenge than anticipated and my finishing time was 51m12s. However, the next 2 runs are flatter, just hoping for decent conditions...

2nd run done - Rother Valley was, as usual, a bit windy but temperatures were normal. Completed in 47m24s, so the 50m target has been broken...revised challenge is a net average time under 50 mins....

3rd run complete. Another Rother Valley venture although I wasn't too keen on the 9am start and lack of Portaloos (again)! Conditions were fine for running although the legs didn't feel in best form. However, I surprised myself and crossed the line in 47m03s. Now giving my knees a rest from running for a week or so but the exercise won't be stopping...

4th run complete - just realised I hadn't updated with this run back in July. Anyway, suffice to say it came and went on a very warm day at Graves Park (again). The course had been changed for the better in my opinion by flattening out the inclines a bit. However, that didn't make the slightest bit of difference as the humidity was sapping and my time was a disappointing 52m22s. This meant that to complete my overall target of 250mins for the 5 runs that I'd have to complete the Great Yorkshire Run in 51m59s or less.

28th September arrived one week after developing a twinge in my left calf whilst on my final big training run. Such was my concern that I immediately invested in a pair of compression socks (as worn by Paula Radcliffe but not the exact same pair I hasten to add!). The weather on the big day was already 17°C at 10am when the race began. I set off steady, not wanting to tire myself too early. My early pace over the first 2km was consistent but then dropped off over the next 3 to the half way mark although at 24m15s I was still well on target. However, the 2nd half continued to show the same gradual decline in pace and by 8km I was virtually bang on target to complete in 50m. However, the final 2km introduced the 2 inclines that were the straws that broke this camels back. As I climbed the 2nd of these from the Park Square roundabout my intentions were purely to finish without stopping. As I reached the junction of Arundel Gate, I could already see the finish line (thankfully on the level) and this spurred me on to up the pace and pass another competitor who had passed me just 20 secs earlier. I crossed the line in 50m48s and thus beat my target by 1m11s, not the greatest of margins but job done nonetheless.

Although I haven't yet burned my running shoes, it is my intention to put myself to pasture in the running sense as my knees can't take much more pounding. 2 wheels now seems to be the future - watch out for the next challenge (hopefully in 2015).

I would be extremely grateful if you would consider sponsoring me for this worthwhile cause.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this and any contribution you make or have already made.