With a mere couple of hours left of 2013, when discussing New Year’s resolutions, I was asked “Do you fancy running 5k in February?”.  It seemed doable so I agreed.  Unfortunately there were a couple of words in that sentence which I didn’t quite hear: “every day”!

So yes, I am planning on running 5 kilometres (3.2 miles) every day for the next 4 weeks.  This will add up to 140km (90miles) which is equivalent to here to Alnwick; here to Glasgow and back or 3 and a half marathons.  Sounds like madness (which indeed it is) so here are my motivations:

 

Raise money and awareness for the FetLor Youth Centre

FetLor, like dozens of youth centres across the country, are very much unsung heroes within local communities.  They work with a whole range of young people, including those whose issues and behaviour often leave them excluded from school and society.  At the most basic level, they provide a safe, welcoming environment where young people can go and not have to hang out on street corners.  FetLor focus their activities on outdoor pursuits where the young people learn responsibility and trust whilst improving their social skills.  Through the relationships that the youth workers build with the young pupil, they are able to give advice on all kinds of things including relationships, drugs and alcohol.  They also guide young people as to how they can make positive choices in life.  The positive effects ripple right through our community.

FetLor's current home is under threat. Built in the 60's, this wooden hut, which has been home for the last 50 years, is now in a state of extreme disrepair.

I am fundraising to help FetLor build a brand new state of the art Youth Hub which will help 100's of children and young people in the area and be a great asset to the community.  Any contribution you can make to this project will help FetLor Youth Club get one step closer to making their dream become a reality.

If you think that running 5km a day for a month is in any way impressive, it is nothing compared to what the youth workers and volunteers do every day month after month.  Please consider a donation to this fantastic cause.

More information about Fet-Lor can be found here: www.fetloryouthclub.org.uk  

 

Personal challenge

I am literally three quarters of the man that I was a couple of years ago.  I would have struggled to run 1km, never mind 5.  I therefore want to complete this as a personal challenge to mark how far I’ve come.

 

30 mins a day

A 5km may sound to you like a quick jog or a marathon.  To me it’s a tough 30 – 35 mins.  Although the physical aspect will be demanding, fitting it into my day will also be difficult with a busy job and a young child at home.  I will have to do some runs at the crack of dawn and some late in the evening.  I have no idea what weather February will have in store.  If it does get really bad, I can always resort to the treadmill, but there will be no excuses.  Ultimately it is only 30-35 minutes.  Hopefully it will prompt others to occasionally squeeze 30 minutes of exercise into their day.

 

Thank you for reading this far. Hopefully I’ve persuaded you to give a little donation or go for a run (or both). Even if you can only afford a few pennies, it is all appreciated. 1p for the first day, 2p for the second, 4p for the third etc. would soon add up!!!!

 

Feel free to follow my progress and support me on twitter (@fetlor5kaday).

 

Thank you!