Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

This year I will be running to raise awareness and money for The Sick Children's Trust. The charity provides home from home accommodation for the families of children in hospital suffering with serious illnesses.

The Sick Children's Trust have provided accommodation for our good friends Mark & Andi Halliman during some of the most traumatic times over the last few years.

My little buddy Fin was born on 4th March 2011 and was discovered to be suffering from from a rare heart condition called Hypo-plastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) where the left ventricle of the heart is seriously under developed. Normally this condition is picked up during pre-natal scans but in Fin's case it wasn't and it was a nurse who first noticed a problem.

Fin was immediately rushed to Great Ormond Street Hospital and had his first open heart surgery aged 4 days. This was the first of a three stage procedure to reconstruct his heart and he remained in GOSH for a further 3 weeks before being allowed home.

At aged 4 months Fin returned to GOSH to have the second stage surgery and after further surgery to fix a leaky valve was allowed home again. During his time at GOSH the Sick Children's Trust provided accommodation close to the hospital for Andi & Mark which meant they could concentrate on being with Fin during the worst of times.

Happily Fin's operation was a success and this year he will undergo the final stage (Fontan Procedure) reconstruction of his heart and The Sick Children's Trust will again be there for Mark & Andi.

Update!:

Fin has been down to GOSH for his Fontan Procedure and was remarkably (after a couple of set-backs!) home within 2 weeks!! Mark & Andi were again provided with accommodation by The Sick Children's Trust.

So this year I will be training for and running the following events to raise a few pounds for The Sick Children's Trust;

Bath Half Marathon, 1st March 2015. Completed in 1:51:08.

Northampton Run Fest 10k, 5th April 2015. Completed in 51:16 (20th Overall & 4th in class).

Silverstone Grand Prix 10k, 6th May 2015. Completed but at a serious cost! 

Clumber Park Trailblazer Half Marathon, 27th June 2015. Had to cancel due to injury but replaced by...

Wiggle Chiltern Classic Sportive (45 miles), 27th June 2015. Can't run but after fixing up the old mountain bike that hadn't been ridden for around 7-8 years, I've found I can pedal. So a new bike and with 3 weeks training we're going to give it a go! Completed in 3:28:22 (45 miles and a kilometre of climbing).

Wiggle Mendips Sportive (54 miles), 18th July 2015. Completed in 3:46:02.

Wiggle Cotswold Sportive (75 miles), 15th August 2015. Way bigger than either The Chilterns or The Mendips, but we'll give it a go! Completed in 6hrs 7mins (5hrs 24mins actually pedalling) although the time became irrelevant after Winchcombe Hill and a terrible accident for a fellow rider. A very tough ride in more ways than one.

Northampton Half Marathon, 6th September 2015. Probably going to have to be replaced a ride or 10km to not risk pushing too hard before Oxford Half.

Wiggle Steeple Chase Sportive (96 miles), 26th September 2015. Much flatter than the other sportive so going the whole hog! Completed in 6hrs 32mins (5hrs 51mins actually in the saddle). Should've done more than 20 miles on the new bike and saddle but lesson learnt!

Oxford Half Marathon, 11th October 2015. Still not running so time for one last blast on the bike before the winter.

Wiggle Circuit Breaker Sportive (86 miles), closer to home and some of it actually on home territory. Might need to try the hill at Avon Dassett before the day! Hoping the weather will be ok, as I've been incredibly lucky so far. Weather was great!! Finished officially in 6hrs 00 mins and 59secs. I was aiming for 6hrs (so just about got there) and wanted to be under 5hrs 30mins in the saddle and that time was 5hrs 25mins. But most importantly I wanted to get up Burton Dassett Hill without having to get off and that was mission accomplished.

Thank you everyone for your support this year, it has been so appreciated.

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.