19th November update

A quick update, some good news, some better news and a final appeal!

 

As you might be aware, Hurricane Sandy blew away the NYC marathon at the very last moment. Luckily(for all my training efforts), I found another marathon a week later on the West Coast – the Santa Barbara International Marathon. Alright, it was not quite NYC. More than fifty thousand runners run in NY including twenty thousand from outside the United States . Santa Barbara on the other hand had a little more than a thousand and I was one of less than twenty reasons it is called international. The course was hillier, breezier and sunnier-  in short wholly unsuitable for a first marathon. The good news though is, that the marathon has already been run and can no longer be cancelled. What’s more, I managed to finish without coming last.

 

With the help of many of you, I have been able to raise more than £850 for Save the Children; add to this Barclays matching contribution of £750 and we have already raised more than £1600. Thank you very much for your support – I could not quite run in NYC as pledged, but I assure you the course in Santa Barbara was the whole 42.195 kms. I have put some photographic evidence (of my participation, not the distance!).

 

Hurricane Sandy is a poignant reminder of the importance of work that Save the Children are doing. Millions get impacted by such natural disasters and children are often the most vulnerable. For those of you, who have been snoozing the reminders to donate, there is even better news. The Community team at Barclays has agreed to match any funds raised via the Santa Barbara marathon as well. This means any donations that you make will continue to be matched one for one upto a further £750. So here’s my final appeal – do support this very important cause to ensure "No child is born to die".

 

Regards,

 

Divyesh

Original appeal

Earlier this year, I got lucky when I secured an entry into the New York City Marathon (4th Nov, 2012) - I have been reliably told chances of getting an entry into NYC marathon are less than 8%.

I have taken to running only in the last couple of years in an effort to keep fit; earlier efforts at gyming/playing a sport had proved as fleeting as the English summer. My running training though has endured through early morning bouts of laziness and the perennial excuse of too little time.

The real test ofcourse will be on 4th November and I can't wait to find out how I have done.

What will make all these hours of pounding the London pavements and the 42 kms through NYC really worthwhile is if it makes a real difference. Save the Children are a brilliant organization. They operate across the world, including India and UK working for the basic rights and welfare of children. This is my humble appeal to you to donate to this organization and help them in their incredible mission. Every pound you donate will go to Save the Children. What's more, the community team at Barclays will match your donation and hence every pound will in fact make twice the difference.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. Do dig deep and help this small attempt for a great cause.

Cheers,

Divyesh

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 and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.