Story
Final update - 26th April 2010
They think it's all over - it is now!!
Four hours, fifty-six minutes and 10 seconds – (never forget the importance of those seconds to a marathon runner!). Yup, the London Marathon 2010 is all finished, and because I came in under five hours for the first time in three attempts, I can safely say I don’t need to run another marathon for…. well, quite a while anyway. The Paris Marathon two weeks ago was great fun too, although my time was 5 hours and 22 minutes, and it was quite a slog in the heat, and I am feeling in really good shape. Now I must get off to my Bikram Yoga class and attempt the standing series... It was a wonderful day to be out and about in London, and the genuine warmth, goodwill and sense of theatre will stay with me most of all. It was equally lovely to know that family and friends were waiting at various points to bombard me with encouragement, energy and jelly babies, and it really is amazing what a psychological and physical lift that gives. I know some other friends turned out on the day and we weren’t able to spot each other due to the huge crowds of spectators and runners, so an enormous thank you to them too, as well as those who I was able to hook up with. In Paris, a good number of people lined the streets, and their encouragement was much appreciated. I would definitely say though, that at street level, the London spectators were uninhibitedly out to make a mad, fun day of it, and I don’t remember hardly a single yard where there weren’t people cheering and partying. Fabulous! As you all know I was raising money for Amnesty International, and thanks to your generosity I have raised nearly £1500 so far both online and with separate donations, with some promises of donations still to come. This so generous of all of you and I am immensely grateful. Amnesty International has been the charity that makes the most sense to me to support, as I believe that when we allow ourselves to treat all humans with respect and kindness, starting of course with ourselves, then the vast numbers of charities that are set up to cater for the fallout from all forms of neglect and inhumanity could happily disband – including, eventually, Amnesty itself. This web page set up to receive donations stays open for three months so you can still post any donations if you wish to. And if, as some people do, you prefer to donate offline so that the 5% which otherwise goes to the JustGiving company can go to Amnesty instead, you may send me a cheque payable to Amnesty International and I’ll make sure it arrives safely. You can post it to me at The Old Church, Chilcote Lane, East Horrington, Somerset, BA53DP Thank you all again, for all your generosity and support. The lives of thousands of people all around the world will also be touched as they come to know (and they will) that other humans are reaching out to offer them protection and restore their human rights. Gratefully James--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13th April 2010 Update
Hello – it’s only me. Again. With a quick marathon update for you: 1) I finished the Paris marathon (my warm up run!) last Sunday and the body seems to be holding up very well. I went to Yoga the following day and completed the whole class including the dreaded standing series – then had a great massage in the evening, so it seems as if I got away with that one! 2) My time, if you’re interested was 5 hours 20 minutes – not very fast you may be thinking – and you’re right, but it was a fabulous day out – sunny, fun, and very well supported. I saw a number of friends over there. 3) Now, I’ve just got to get round the London marathon on the 25th April and my challenge is complete – am relaxing and doing light exercise this week – next week I have a heavy coaching workload so I will do a couple of evening runs and Yoga, and much resting J 4) Thank you to all of you who have sponsored me for these two marathons – I am over half way to my target of £2000 – if you would still like to donate , please fill in the forms on this page. 5) And lastly – if you want to come and support on the day, let me know where you will be so I can listen out for your much needed cheering, shouting and other encouraging banter. After the event we will all be meeting at the Hispaniola boat restaurant (near the 25 mile mark and about a mile back from the finish, on the Thames next to Hungerford Bridge (North side). Nearest Tube is Embankment. 6) Assuming I finish in around 5 hours, (the race starts at 10ish by the time we cross the start line) that means I will be there from about 2.30 onwards. The Hispaniola is booked by Amnesty until 5 pm on Sunday so do drop in – everyone welcome! Let me know if you’re planning to come and I’ll look out for you. 7) That’s the end of this update – you know everything I do for the time being J Thanks again for your support! James
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23rd March 2010 Update
I splashed out on some new shoes and other posh running stuff last week - and would you believe it, took 7 minutes off my current10 k time first time out! Not that this has much bearing on my anticipated times for the marathons, I am not running to win them after all, but it's encouraging to know that the body is still holding up with a month to go.
The Paris Marathon is coming up first and strictly speaking is a little too close to the London one to be able to run both at a comfortable pace, but having watched Eddie Izzard's incredible effort for Sport Relief (43 marathons in 50 days!!) I don't think I should be complaining too much really...
I'm still going to my Bikram Yoga classes in Richmond as often as I can - this is really helping with muscle stiffness and suppleness, and I am finding it much easier to maintain steady breathing too. Having missed a couple of weeks through skiing and a heavy work schedule lately, it's good to get back to the routine, and I've kept April pretty clear so i can keep on track with at least four sessions of Yoga and five runs each week.
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26th February 2010 - Update.
Well, training seems to be going well, I am following a programme and pretty much keeping to it. Up to 140 mins at marathon pace and no obvious ill-effects as yet! I have decided to do as much Yoga as I can for muscle flexibility and lung capacity - so far so good!
I am going to buy some new shoes next week - see if that helps me go faster, or more to the point more smoothly with less impact on the knees.
I am hoping to break through the £1000 mark with my sponsorship by the 5th April, so if you know anyone who wants to find a good cause to donate to, please point them in the direction of this page!
That's it for now - it would be great to see you all along the route on the 25th April - we can all meet and eat afterwards if you're up for it!
James
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Please read on if this is your first visit to this page...
As many of you know I have been a supporter of the work of Amnesty International for many years. I attend local meetings, raise funds, speak in schools as often as I can, mostly about the horrors of Child Soldiering, or the plight of Refugees and go on demonstrations to show support for people whose rights have been taken away. I also write letters and postcards to prime ministers, presidents and government officials all over the world to ask them to consider their treatment of the thousands of non-criminal people whom they imprison and torture for their own reasons.
Amnesty, as a word, means a general pardon by an official organisation or government. Amnesty International, the charity organisation, informs people like me of situations where human rights are being denied, and makes it easy for me to show my support for isolated, frightened non-criminal individuals whom I will probably never meet, but who feel comforted knowing that the outside world is aware of their situation and is working to restore their human rights. Many of these human rights abuses continue only because the governments concerned cannot find a way to publicly save face – Amnesty International creates ways to allow these situations to stop, peacefully, without further violence or reprisals.
If we can create a society where people are first encouraged to respect the rights of all other humans, and to show kindness and tolerance, my guess is that we can probably extend that respect and kindness to everything else - animals, the environment, material things and personal possessions.
That is why I am running this Marathon.The London Marathon will be the third Marathon I will have run – the second is the Paris Marathon two weeks earlier which I am running with some friends. Four years ago I ran the Berlin Marathon, and learnt a lot (!) – namely not to get carried away in the first 13 miles and run too fast. I stumbled past the finishing line in a little over 5 hours, although my target was 4 hours 15 minutes :-)
In these Marathons I am going to aim for 4 hours and 30 minutes and training has started quite well. I will keep updating this site so you can see how my training is getting on if you like. I will also set out some landmarks and expected times along the route for those people who would like to come along and experience the event in person – your shouts and motivation will be very much appreciated as I reach each point on the course. It’s on the 25th April in the morning in case you want to come and see it live!
If you have never donated through a Just Giving site before you can be sure it 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 AND they’ll make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s a really efficient way to donate - I get to raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
So please, dig deep and sponsor me NOW!