Hello, and thanks for taking the time to look at my JustGiving page.

If you know me, you will appreciate I’m not a natural athlete but despite this I took up running soon after turning 40 and have since completed a number of 10k races and half marathons over the past 18 months. Now summer is here, it’s time for a new challenge and this year I have chosen to go big and take part in THE BERLIN MARATHON 2023 and will be joined by Mark Sanderson & Danny Green.

This will be my first EVER full marathon, and I am proud to say that I will be running it for ‘The Children’s Hospital Charity’ (TCHC), with the aim of raising some money for Sheffield Children’s Hospital (SCH). I ran the Sheffield Half Marathon last year for them and raised almost £1000, I was delighted when I was offered the chance to run in Berlin along with a couple of friends from my regular running group.

SCH and the staff there all hold a very special place in my heart, as some of you know – my son Oliver spent the first couple of months of his life in intensive care there. He was born with a serious bowel disorder called ‘Hirschsprung’s Disease’, this was missed by the hospital he was born in and by the time it was diagnosed - he was extremely poorly and needed life-saving care and major surgery.

Oliver was transferred to Sheffield Children’s Hospital 3 days after birth, his condition diagnosed within hours and a plan made to get him ready for surgery asap - the next obstacle was that he was malnourished, dehydrated and heavily infected. He was treated in the ICU/NSU ward for a total of 8 weeks, during that time we were allocated accommodation in the hospital itself at Magnolia House.

During this time, myself and Tracy had to put our working lives on hold and focus on getting Oliver better and making sure our daughter Sofia could continue day to day in as normal a way as possible. This was made much easier with the help of understanding employers, and unquestioned support from family and friends. Looking back, it was hell but luckily Oliver was too young to remember it.

After major surgery on 19.11.2014, Oliver had monthly check-ups and a few follow up procedures in theatre to check everything was healing and working as it should. Now he is a normal 8-year-old boy to the naked eye full of energy and mischief, you wouldn’t know he’s extremely lucky to be here at all. Today, his condition is controlled by medication, but we owe everything to SCH & the heroes that work there.

I am hoping to raise a total of £1500 for TCHC by running the Berlin Marathon, all the money raised will be given to the ‘The Children’s Hospital Charity’ allowing them to buy much needed medical equipment for the children’s wards. All donations are gratefully received and will help the staff continue working their miracles every day, this page also tracks my training progress via STRAVA.

Thank you for your time. 

Rob. x

Hirschsprung’s Disease:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hirschsprungs-disease/

Sheffield Children’s Hospital:

https://www.sheffieldchildrens.nhs.uk/

The Children’s Hospital Charity:

https://www.tchc.org.uk/

The Berlin Marathon 2023:

https://www.bmw-berlin-marathon.com/en/