Further update:

I did it!!

Time 2hrs 55mins 58secs.

Not great but a finish all the same and it was my first half marathon, or organised run at all to be honest.

Update: after 2020 got cancelled I am now aiming to do the Great North Run in September 2021 for all the same reasons.

I am doing the Great North Run this year. Originally being from Newcastle and having moved to Scotland, it is an event I have always wanted to take part in.

There are two main reasons I want to do it:

1) To raise money for a great cause/need that I have become increasingly aware of over the last few years

2) To improve my own fitness and health after realising I need to become more active and take care of myself so I see my son grow up

I have chosen Mind as it is a partner charity of the Great North Run and is a charity supporting an important cause.

Some people close to me suffer from significant Mental Health issues, as well as people whom I have met through my work,  friends, people I know on social media and of course recent coverage on mental health in the newspapers. The support is simply not always there both from the healthcare side and just for people to have someone to listen. I hope that, with everyone’s support, then things will improve and people will no longer need to suffer in silence until it becomes too much.

The task is huge. To go from a couch potato with an inactive job(I literally do just sit in the car all day) who hasn’t exercised properly since PE at school (about 24 years ago) to being able to run a half marathon by September. I am up for the challenge and hopefully this will be rewarded with some great support for Mind and a reasonable time in the run! 

Update: the task is even greater now having only got round to starting training for 2021 about a month Before the Run

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