Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

2018 will take some beating for me on the running front. My race in Antarctica completed a personal lifetime ambition of running at least a half marathon on all seven continents before I reached the age of 70. Now that I've reached the age of 71, I have set myself a different challenge: thirteen races, some on road, some on trail, on five of the world's most beautiful islands. This is the plan:

1. 2 Jun 2019, Easter Island half marathon, Chile (COMPLETED)
2. 16 Sep 2019, Ponta Delgada 5k, Azores (COMPLETED)
3. 17 Sep 2019, Sete Didades Volcano half marathon, Azores (COMPLETED)
4. 18 Sep 2019, Furnas Hot Springs 6.5k, Azores (COMPLETED)
5. 19 Sep 2019, Serra Tronquiera 17k, Azores (COMPLETED)
6. 27 Oct 2019, Venice marathon, Italy (COMPLETED)
7. 21 Nov 2019, Coral Beach 6k time trial, Cyprus (COMPLETED)
8. 22 Nov 2019, Akamas 11k hill run, Cyprus (COMPLETED)
9. 23 Nov 2019, Akamas multiterrain half marathon, Cyprus (COMPLETED)
10. 24 Nov 2019, 10k Paphos City run, Cyprus (COMPLETED)
11. 17 Jan 2020, The Front Street Mile, Hamilton, Bermuda (COMPLETED)
12. 18 Jan 2020, Bermuda 10K (COMPLETED)
13. 19 Jan 2020, Bermuda half marathon (COMPLETED)
    

That is 120 miles of running in total.

For this year's challenge, I have chosen to support International Animal Rescue and I hope you take the time to look at their website to see the magnificent work that they do.

On many of my running adventures overseas, I have had some amazing encounters with animals in their own environments. Maybe the elephants in South Africa got a little too close for comfort, but then I wouldn't be too happy if an elephant came into my home either! I am acutely aware of the problems many species face, whether from man's cruel practices or destruction of their environments by the way we live our lives. This was brought home to me emphatically on my recent visit to Antarctica when a group of us in small rubber inflatables came across two giant humpback whales who were within touching distance. They entertained us for fifteen minutes and couldn't have been more gentle. We don't own this planet; we share it with some magnificent species so, for the sake of future generations, let's stop making life difficult for them.

Examples of how your donations might be spent include:

• £3 could provide a bunch of bananas for rescued orangutans
• £4 could provide healing burn cream to howler monkeys suffering electrocution burns
• £5 could provide a pot of honey to treat a rescued sloth bear
• £10 could provide a tyre swing for rescued baby orangutans
• £25 could help rescue a captive brown bear from unimaginable suffering
• £100 could care for a rescued slow loris for an entire month
• £200 could feed a rescued orangutan for an entire month
  

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. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.