21km, 13 miles, half marathon. This is the challenge two non runners, myself and my girlfriend Hannah are taking on when the Great North Run comes to Manchester on the 20th of May.

The Charity that we are running for is Francis House Children’s Hospice. Opened by Princess Diana in 1991, Francis House cares for children with life threatening conditions and short life expectancies.
Their service is founded on a belief in sanctity of life and along with their care and understanding the hospice is a comfortable home from home environment. Francis House also provides the families of the children with support through their times of stress and pain and also end of life support.

Training is well underway, it’s not easy and we’re fully aware its not going to get any easier! But by crossing the finish line knowing we would have raised money for a really good cause, is what’s keeping us motivated.

The reason behind us doing the half marathon and raising money for Francis House is last November, we lost my nephew at 3 months of age. Sadly aware of the heartache and trauma losing a child has on a family and everyone connected, I want to try and take a positive out of a negative situation. We want to give something back with your help and support to a charity doing a similar thing daily, taking a positive out of a negative situation on a larger scale.

Wish us all luck, I think I will definitely need it!
Dan & Hannah