Hello all, much to my complete horror I’ve signed up to run this half Marathon for SLOW (Surviving the Loss of Your World) I had initially signed up to run this in 2019 but thankfully the ONLY good thing to come out of the global pandemic was its cancellation, leading to me NOT having to do it…but guilt, a sense of duty and mY eternal passion for SLOW have got the better of me….I can escape this no longer and have signed up to run THIS years half Marathon! I HATE RUNNING….I LOATH IT…I have never experienced the endorphin rush people speak of - I have never felt the wind in my hair and sense of freedom it allegedly gives one  - no sirrreeee - for me running is and will always be pure unadulterated  misery!  So, you may be thinking  ‘oh big deal, it’s only a half marathon’  For me, this is my Everest! This is an enormous challenge. I completed the 3 peak challenged for CBUK and that felt like a stroll round Regents Park compared to this! 

So far in my training regime I have cried during most of my sessions! …. But what is driving me forward and making me so very determined to start and finish this is the enduring love I have for my daughter Maudie who died very suddenly in 2011 of Sepsis…the love of Maudie .AND my profound gratitude to the charity SLOW who I stumbled upon 3 weeks after Maudie’s death - a charity that is run by bereaved parents and supports bereaved parents through what is unquestionably one of life’s most devastating events. They picked me up, held me, listened to my wailing, made me lots of cups of tea and guided me through the devastating chaos that child loss in a way I could never have imagined. I now work part time for them as one of their group facilitators and of all the millions of jobs I do I can safely say, it’s the best, most rewarding work I’ve ever done in my life. I owe SLOW so much for everything they did for me and everything they are as a charity and for that I will get up early, reluctantly put on my trainers and pound the pavements and I will bloody well COMPLETE THIS RUN!! For more information about the incredible work that SLOW do - please have a look at their website. 

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