Thank you for taking the time to visit my Just Giving page.  I will be doing the Great North Run on the 9^th September this year, my first ever half marathon and I am raising money for Cancer Research UK in memory of my dad Kieth Andersen.

We sadly lost my dad in March 2017 at the age of just 59, due to a battle with oesophagus cancer since January 2014. Dad was always a very loving man with a bright and cheerful disposition, with the willingness to help anyone he came across. I couldn’t have asked for a better dad through my childhood, always providing me with on-going love and support throughout all my endeavours.

After my dad’s diagnosis it was very easy to shut myself away, imagine it was not true and refuse to talk about it. I can speak on behalf of my whole family, we felt like this initially but gradually with time became closer and more open with my family and friends, I feel this support was
extremely important during this difficult time.

Shortly after I lost my dad my wife and I decided to loose weight and better ourselves, preparing for our brighter, healthier future. The journey we took together was inspiring and of course difficult at times but with the support of each other and friends and family we lost an amazing six stone between us. This took many months but was a huge step in helping me to progress in my life. Having a great support network, healthy diet and personally running in particular, has been extremely beneficial to me, changing my life and sometimes giving me a safe haven to escape my feelings.

Before my weight loss and my new found passion for running I never would have imagined doing a half marathon. For anyone that knows me will know I’ve always been the overweight kid that used to try his luck to get out of any form of physical activity at school and lets face it nothing changed when I hit adulthood either!! I had been overweight my whole life much like my dad, so dedicating this run to him as a new found healthier me has more sentiment than I could ever put into words, as I know he would be proud.

Acceptance of loosing my dad at such a young age was vital in helping me look forward into my future. Also, because my friends and family were so massively important to my positivity and bereavement
recovery, I'm doing this for them too.

I have started my training plan for the half marathon already, I have 48 runs planned and promise to kick ass until D-day in September!

Thank you very much for your support to this fantastic charity. Your donation truly means so much to both myself personally, my family and of course, to Cancer Research. Every single penny donated is very much appreciated and CRUK relies solely on charitable donations so please dig deep and support my efforts in supporting this great charity.

Your support can help change lives, new developments and help make people have longer with those extremely special people in their lives, which I was unfortunate enough to not have been able to have had with my dad.

Thank you once again

Jamie

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.