11th OCT 2022: THEY THINK IT'S ALL OVER, BUT WHAT'S THIS? WE HAVE AN EXTENSION TO THE TEAM CHALLENGE!

Love Running Tuesday Nighter Lisa Taylor has been fundraising for Team Tuesday all summer, and has donated more than £100 so far. Lisa is running the NEW YORK MARATHON on 6th November, and wants to run for Ability Dogs, but is being very quiet and modest about her challenge. We have finally managed to encourage her to join Team Tuesday for this final month of training before the Big Day, and help us get our fundraising as high as it can go!

We are all so proud of her, and look forward to these final few weeks of training together. GO LISA!

See the rest of the Team Tuesday story below:

We belong to the "Love Running Tuesday Nighters" running group, and wanted to set ourselves a charity challenge this year. We set our sights on our local Isle of Wight Marathon, which is on 2nd October 2022, and formed "Team Tuesday" to help each other train and achieve our goal.

Running for the charity is a great motivator, and will validate all the hard work and training. Together we are determined to see it through... and raise LOADS of money to train helping dogs for disabled youngsters on the Isle of Wight in the process.

We spent January to April training for a Half Marathon, ending with some of us tackling the Southampton Half Marathon. The marathon training started properly in May.

Our leader and chief of all Sunday runs (Jo R!) was away on 17th July, but the training plan was asking for a 12 mile route - all whilst there was a MET office amber warning for heat! Sarah AKA "Crabbie" came up with a cunning plan: a shorter early morning run followed by a dip in the sea to cool off! The extra miles could then be done separately in the evening when it was cooler again. 15 intrepid runners - many of whom are in Team Tuesday -  came from across the Island to meet in Gurnard at 06:30hrs. The route was 7.5 miles starting up ‘Winding Way’, Rew Street (an early part of the IOW Marathon) then up Pallance Road (the last hill of the IOW Marathon). Crabbie thought that she was going to get a few complaints about the hills, but everyone took it with good humour and enjoyed the flatter and shadier part of the run along the cycle track! After that it was back to Gurnard and that promised cool dip in the Sea! (see photos)

On Sunday 24th July Team Tuesday members Jo R, Debbie, Ellie, Crabbie, Ross, Rose and Kelly took part in the St George's 10 Road Race, which is VERY hilly and good training for the marathon. Earning a medal for doing a training run is also a goooooood feeling!

Sunday 31st July will be our first 14 miler - the first training run that takes us above Half Marathon distance. It will be the furthest some of Team Tuesday have EVER run, and we are hoping for a cooler day. Keep your eyes on the gallery to see our progress!

The 14 miler went well, and in early August we tackled the dreaded 15 miler, in the hottest weather we have had for a long time. Jane was poorly and had to cut it short, but she went out the following week and achieved the 15 miles with a smile, and we are all very proud of her!

In early August we were sad to lose both Rachel and Gill from the team (illness for Rachel and broken bones for Gill), but know they will be there to support us on the day... Zoe has had Covid twice this year and was also struggling and needed to drop out, and we lost Jo G too. We miss them and send them all lots of love. Maybe next year?!

21st August: Debbie, Ellie, Jo, Ross, Rob, Crabby, Kelly and Sarah O have just tackled the IOW Half Marathon (Ross & Crabby got PBs!), whilst Sarah B managed a massive 18 miler!

28th August: Phew - that was a tough 18 miles for Ross, Rob, Rose, Sarah, Jo, Kelly, Debbie, Ellie, Naovy and Jane. Very sticky heat and very tired legs by the end! Lauren managed to do hers the following Tuesday. One more "Big one" to go until the big day!

3rd September: We have reached £1,000! Thank you all so much xxxx

11th September: We have just completed our longest training run - 21 miles - and Ability Dog-in-training Louie was there to see us off at the start! Also, we have a new team member: Carolyn! It was a hot run, and with the Tour of Britain being cancelled we did not have the quiet roads we were aniticpating, but it was all good. We started in Newport and went through Cowes, Northwood, Newport, Whippingham, Wootton and then even more of Newport! Lauren and Jo sang the whole way round!! Jane and Sarah B were unavailable but managed to do their 21 milers earlier in the week :-) Sarah C is abroad but managed to do her 21 miler before she left! Fundraising is now up to £1,400!

14th September: Wowsers - we are up to £2,000 thanks to some VERY generous local businesses. Thank you from us all xxx

20th September: We are now officially "tapering", so it was "only" 12 miles last Sunday and a "little 8 miler" this weekend, and then we only have ONE WEEK TO GO UNTIL RACE DAY! The Sunday gang stopped off at the Chocolate Apothecary in Ryde after the 8 miler to celebrate the amazing journey we have been on, and lovely Gill (recovering from her broken shoulder) gave us all marathon keepsakes and cards.

Team Leader Jo is wondering if we can possibly raise £3,000 in the next 12 days...

28th September: We are at £3,000!!!! Also, our running group has just donated a mighty £360 raised by group members over the past 6 months for us. We love you all so much xx

We are all super nervous now and counting down the hours until the race. Wish us luck!

Sunday 2nd October 2022: WE DID IT! All 14 of us completed the Marathon safely, and had an incredible day! Lots of Ability Dogs appeared at the finish line with their handlers to cheer us all home, so it was a very emotional and wonderful way to end our epic event. We each approached the finish funnel to people cheering, dogs barking and tails wagging! There were lots of doggy (and Team-mate) cuddles at the end!!
 
We are especially proud of Rose, Ross, Rob, Lauren, Jane, Sarah B and Sarah O for achieving their longest EVER runs on Sunday, on what is notoriously a difficult and very "undulating" route. It was the first time all 14 of us have been together in the same place this year too, so the pre-run photo of us in our charity tees is one to be treasured.

The charity have been so supportive, and we would like to thank every single person and business who has donated to this page, or supported us in ANY way on our epic journey. Same again next year???!!!!

Weds 19th October 2022: It was dear little Marty's first ever training session at the Charity's Centre in Sandown, and Team Tuesday were invited! Lisa, Debbie, Lauren and Ellie all got lovely hugs with Marty, which is just what Lisa needed 3 weeks from her Marathon.

The fundraising is at £5,500 and we are all a bit stunned quite frankly! The 14 of us who ran the IOW Marathon are tired and coming down the other side of the spiral, but at the same time we are all super excited for Lisa and her amazing challenge... Good luck, Lisa xxxx

It costs the charity approximately £7,000 per dog as the charity covers all the training, costs, food and veternarian treatment of each dog for his or her life.  So the more we raise the easier it will be for one dog to be placed with a young human in need....

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure... and will make you feel good! 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. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.