42.

The same age I am now. At just 42 my dad had a major heart attack. He was given a 50/50 chance of surviving one of the very first quadruple heart bypass operations ever performed in the UK. Oblivious to the seriousness of the situation my brother and I went off to Primary School and were collected by my parents friends everyday for quite a while it felt. The next time I saw my father he had a scar from his throat to his navel and from his groin to his ankle. WOAH, there were a lot of tubes coming out from him too. But he was alive, and thanks to the pioneering research by the British Heart Foundation he continued to be the most amazing father, coach, mentor, chauffeur, trainer, educator, friend, gentleman and role model for my brother and I for another 25 years, despite regularly still undergoing new heart tests and surgery, including another double heart bypass when he was 60. It fractured our world when he suddenly passed away in 2007 whilst on the waiting list for a heart transplant. Since that day, I have donated to the British Heart Foundation at every opportunity, and I have watched the London Marathon on TV every year with the words  "there’s no way I could EVER run a marathon"..."but if I did I would only ever do it for the British Heart Foundation"...

So why sponsor me? This is about me using my legs and running to save lives, to save you, your family, your friends, your children from experiencing what we went through. It’s not just older people who suffer heart problems, in the 1950s around eight out of ten babies born in the UK with a complex congenital heart condition died before their first birthday (that’s just 20% survival rate).  Today, thanks to advances in treatment and care that BHF helped fund, more than 80% of babies with congenital heart disease grow up to be adults. So by donating you are helping save babies lives. Over 500,000 of people are living with heart failure. THERE IS NO CURE. Over the next five years, the BHF will continue to enable world-leading scientists in regenerative medicine to collaborate to find ways of reversing heart failure. Seven million people in the UK still live with heart and circulatory disease and it’s responsible for more than a quarter of all deaths. When I'm training in the snow, ice and rain and struggling to fit training in around small children, work and a busy life, I know this isn't about me, this is about all those people now and in the future this money is going to help. That’s what will keep me going.

If you are interested in my 'running journey' read on... but if not, before you go I just want to say HUGE THANK YOU for reading my page and I really really hope I have encouraged you to donate, even if everyone just donated £1 it would make a difference. I haven't actually asked for any personal sponsorship since I abseiled off Twickenham Rugby Stadium about 15 years ago, and I probably won't ask again for another 15 years, so you could see me as a good investment :) Thank you thank you thank you for donating now, I cannot tell you how much it will mean to me xxx

(The Running Story... go back 20 years... "Sara Goodwin running a MARATHON???! What the heck?!!!") As most of you know, I have spent my whole life a bit overweight and HATING running with a passion. I even had a doctors note to get me out of it at school. Horses were my thing and running was waaaay to hard. I tried a 5k race-for-life once in my 20's and it was such a horrible experience I ran straight to the pub after for wine and a burger to drown my sorrows!!! I only started running to lose my baby weight as I had seen friends quickly shed the mummy tummy and thought I'd give it another go. I started run-walking in the woods near where I live and the hills constantly reminded me of why I hated running. I set myself a goal of doing the May Hill Massacre, a grueling 9 mile wet muddy mountainous trail race and remember training for it in the thick snow and thinking that once I'd finished I would never run again!!! I stuck to that vow until after baby no 2 arrived and my best friend and I decided in 2015 to run to lose weight together. We went a bit nuts (tiddly?!) and decided to just jump in and apply for London Marathon charity places for 2016. Of course we were rookies and weren't successful (thankfully, given that we hadn't run more than about 4 miles!!), but since then I have completed 4 official Half Marathon races and run at least a half marathon every month of 2016 so far. In August 2016 I achieved something I never thought possible and actually ran a local marathon (although I did walk/run/cry the last 3 miles!). But now we are getting serious and this is THE LONDON MARATHON, and there's one person who I know is going to be holding my hand the whole way round. My amazing daddy. Thank you for reading xxxxx


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