Stephen's page
Stephen Eastham is raising money for St Peter & St James Hospice
Team: Remembering Anne Eastham
In memory of Anne Eastham
Story
Hello and welcome to my fundraising page. Please read my story and my challenges below to get an idea of what I am doing and why I am doing it.
In January 2012, my father was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given 9 months to live. My weight had risen from 12 stone when I was 25 to 18 stone now I was 42. My wife Anne and I pledged to get ourselves fit and healthy. Again. We had made this pledge every year for as long as I can remember, but this time I was serious.
I knew that if I joined a gym I would find an excuse not to go, or if I did go I would cycle for 20 minutes and reward myself with a treat with more calories than I had burnt. So I found an exercise plan to do at home every day and my weight came down to 17 stone by July 2012.
As Anne and I were both teachers the summer holiday was generally an excuse to eat and drink and so this holiday was no different. My weight ballooned up to 17 and a half stone by the beginning of September 2012. As usual September saw the weight loss pledge come out again, but something in my head made me really start to focus on losing the weight this time.
I was too heavy to run, my knees ached just walking and the tendons in both my feet were constantly inflamed. I started cycling away from home for 15 minutes, which forced me to cycle the 15 minutes back again.
Sadly my Dad died on the 27th October 2012 which was an upsetting time for myself, Anne and my 2 daughters Katie and Charlotte.
Anne had been suffering from stomach pains for a few weeks at this time and admitted herself to hospital on the 5th November and on the 7th November was diagnosed with liver, stomach and lung cancer and given a couple of weeks to live. She survived only 12 days and died on the 19th November 2012.
Everyone was really supportive and I was really overwhelmed by people's generosity. In particular the students who I taught at school were so thoughtful. My school told me to take as much time off as I needed, but I wanted to keep teaching my GCSE classes and so I was able to have an escape through work, but also have time to focus on my health.
I increased the amount I was cycling, cycling away from home for an hour before being forced to cycle home again and I halved the size of the portions I was eating. I was easily eating double the amount of food I needed in a normal meal. At Xmas 2012 I pledged not to put on any weight and achieved that and in January 2013 my weight was 15 stone 8.
I decided to sign up for the London to Brighton bike ride in June 2013 and completed that in a decent time of 5 hours. Now I needed a new challenge and signed up for my first muddy obstacle run - The October 2013 Warrior run.
The summer of 2013 saw me and my girls and my Mum visit family in Canada and I managed to end the summer holiday only a couple of pounds heavier than at the start. I ran for the first time in 15 years on the 14th September - a 3 km run. Only 3 weeks later I finished the Warrior Run in just over an hour with friends from work practically dragging me along to help me finish.
My daughters have been a rock over the last year, stepping up and maturing much quicker than should have been the case. They have watched in amazement as I have shrunk and I still remember Charlotte being so excited when she could put her arms around me. I used to hate having my photograph taken because I hated the way I looked, but now I really enjoy hearing the girls look at a photo and say how good I look.
At Xmas I used to over eat and over drink but in 2013 I challenged myself to run 33 miles in the last 10 days and over 60 km in the last 12 days. For the first time ever I lost weight over the Xmas holiday and will had lost a stone since this time last year.
My knees no longer ache and the tendons in my feet are no longer sore. Years of appointments with doctors and chiropodists solved with an obvious solution. Less weight on my joints = less problems.
I still have over a stone to lose before I consider myself a healthy weight, but I have reached the point now when the weight loss is something that will just happen. I enjoy the exercise I do - it is no longer a chore.
When Anne was ill, the hospital released her to come home with medication to numb the pain and live her final days with her loved ones. Obviously Anne's friends and family supported us, but our local St Peter and St James hospice was always there for counselling and medical help. Anne was going to go into the hospice for her final days, but they came quicker than expected and she died after being rushed to hospital.
I have chosen to support them because I was bowled over by their 24/7 support and the fact that we never had to ask twice for help from them. They helped us through the worst days of our lives and have helped me carry on with the strength that people see.
Challenges - 2014
Brighton Half Marathon - 16th February 2014 - Expected time 2.5 hours,(Completed in 2 hours 8 minutes)
7k Nuts Challenge - 2nd March 2014 - Expected time 1.5 hours (Completed in 1 hour 35 minutes 4th out of 572 in my age category)
12k Warrior Run - 30th March 2014 - Expected time 2.5 hours (Completed in 1 hour 49 minutes)
7k Spartan Sprint - 30th August 2014 - Expected time 1 hour (Completed in 1 hour 30 minutes)
12k Super Spartan - 31st August 2014 - Expected time 3 hours (Completed in 2 hours 7 minutes)
10k Back 2 the trenches - 21st September 2014 - Expected time 3 hours(Completed in 1 hour 22 minutes)
21k Warrior Run - 5th October 2014 - Expected time 5 hours (Completed in 3 hours 56 minutes)
12k Back 2 the trenches - 2nd November 2014 (Completed in 1 hour 35 minutes and came 12th)
10k Brooks - 16th November 2014 (Completed in 52:06 a Personal Best)
10K Mens Health Survival of the fittest - 22nd November 2014 (Completed in 1hr 30 min)
Challenges - 2015
10km Cancer Research London Run - 1st Feb - Completed 52 minutes16 km Eliminator race - 7th February 2015 - Completed 2 hours 56 min
21k Brighton half marathon - 22nd February 2015 - Completed 2 hours 1 minute
7k Nuts challenge - 7th March 2015 - Completed 1 hour 20 minute
14k Nuts challenge - 8th March 2015 - Completed 3 hours 9 minutes
7k Back to the trenches - 22nd March 2015 - Completed 1 hour 12
BM10k - 12th April - Completed 53 minutes
12k Dirty Dozen - 18th April 2015 INJURED
21k Warrior Run - 19th April 2015 INJURED
10 miles World War Run - 5th July 2015 INJURED
Brighton 10k trailblazer - 2nd August 2015 - Completed 1 hour 1 min
Worthing Beat the tide 10k - 20th August 2015 - Competed 1 hour 2 min
14 km Nuts challenge - 5th September 2015
14km Nuts challenge - 6th September 2015
7k Spartan Sprint - 19th September 2015
12k Spartan Super - 20th September 2015
20k Spartan Beast - 27th September 2015
21k Warrior Run - 11th October 2015
Bright10 10 miles - 18th October 2015
Judgement Day - 24th October 2015
12k Nuclear - 14th November 2015
Brooks 10k - 15th November 2015
10km Survival of the fittest - 21st November 2015
Hellrunner - 16th January 2016
Brighton Half Marathon - 28th February 2016
Brighton Marathon - 17th April 2016
Mid Sussex Triathlon - 12th June 2016