Thank you so much for taking the time to visit my Just Giving page. 

3rd October 2021:

True to form, in this case unprepared form, I ran the Virtual London Marathon. I say ran but there was some walking. And a marvellous liaison with a parrot. And Cassie, who I ran past being congratulated by her family. Cassie had finished her race by 9.30am in 3 hours and a second or something. I looked like I’d just finished mine but actually I’d only just started.

The last time I ran at all was this time last year. I’m not proud of that as the training is 99% of it, dull and relentless but we’ve had a lot on.  However I am proud I did it again. It was equally as exhausting and my marathon App stuck at 8 miles which just about destroyed me when I thought I’d done approx 20 miles and was faced with potentially another 3 hours. Ned was also tracking me and said ‘why have you been in Surrey Quays shopping centre for two hours?’ I was in Hammersmith. 

I’m raising money for the Cleveland mountain rescue who looked for my brother Stephen. But in this month alone a very dear close friend has been affected by cancer and another, long time, much loved friend killed himself. There was a tailback of 600 motorbikes at his funeral.  Another, yes, is knee deep navigating  Dementia. 

In June, our wonderful mum had a catastrophic, tragic stroke, the heartbreak causing dad to have one too. We’re so lucky he survived. 

Life can change in a moment.  Last Friday yet more proof of just that. Wine and gossip were the perfect medicine.

And I know you’ve been here before. 

I think everyone’s broke. But if there are any who aren’t, then any of these charities would be so happy to receive anything, no matter how small. 

https://www.teenagecancertrust.org

https://www.cancerresearchuk.org

https://lymphoma-action.org.uk

https://www.samaritans.org/

https://www.stroke.org.uk/donate

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/

Thank you. 

Thank you so so much.

And congratulations to all the runners. 

Xx

At almost the 11th hour I decided to run the Virtual Marathon on Sunday. I didn't realise or maybe I'd conveniently 'forgotten' that I had a place. Despite almost no training and expecting to find the whole event totally horrendous and exhausting, it was quite the opposite. It was absolutely amazing. Starting from home, running an unplanned random route that took me past landmarks of my life. The occasional honks from cars and clapping from soaked spectators and fellow runners, almost all running in the other direction or overtaking me. I’ll treasure the experience forever. It was very emotional. Even more so when my teenage son joined me for the last 6 miles, meeting me, near home under Tower Bridge. I'm not sure I would have finished without him as I was completely spent at 20 miles. We finished at exactly the ‘chewing gum’ memorial to my brother Stephen, painted by artist Ben Wilson, on the Millennium bridge and shared the moment with a few strangers all equally moved by the event as we sat for a while on the bridge. We were treated to an ‘on the house Wagamama special' afterwards. So kind. 

Afterwards it occurred to me how surely the option to run a 'virtual marathon' should become an annual event, an option of the London Marathon if you fail to get a ballot place, as I had for over 10 years in trying. Environmentally it makes sense, it becomes more inclusive and it also means that small charities who can't ever afford to buy charity places can raise funds. 

Therefore given that it was as much of a surprise that I was running it, as it was that I'd actually completed 26 miles, I’ve decided to try to raise some money for the Cleveland Mountain Rescue who my family are forever grateful to for searching for my brother Stephen who tragically died in 2017. They are all volunteers, they don't have any paid staff and their services are ever more in demand in the North York Moors.

Stephen had a sudden breakdown. It was utterly inexplicable and we remain bewildered and heartbroken that he has gone. He was tired. This was all we really had to go on. He worked hard and was in the garden where he worked as a gardener from dawn until dusk. He had worries, as anyone does, but loved life. He knew when the swallows arrived, where the newts hid, when the swifts were fledging, how his bees needed handling. He walked the hills of the North Yorkshire Moors and Lake District as often as his work commitments allowed. He loved his family, girlfriend, friends, work and cared deeply about humanity. He had the most wonderful sense of humour, playful and mischievous but always kind. His breakdown started on a regular Saturday morning. It came out of no-where. Literally out of the blue. There were signs over three days of a serious condition developing. Stephen was convinced he could hear voices and by Tuesday evening Stephen had tragically died. 

The mountain rescue never stopped looking and knowing how unwell Stephen was, they were so careful in the manner and technique they used to search for him. They were thorough and repeated, as they didn't know whether Stephen was moving and trying to avoid them. The slopes were steep and damp and the nights very dark, wet, foggy and cold. An extremely remote part of the moors. It must have been one of their worst call outs. Two members also attended Stephen's funeral. The pain of losing the loveliest of brothers is unbearable and never goes away. He was rarely out of my mind on Sunday when I ran the Virtual London Marathon. 

I’m also running the London Virtual marathon in 2021 and after deferring my original ballot place I am running the London Marathon 2022. I will train next time and move my own mountains to chase a time that would mean I’d qualify again. A VERY unlikely result but who knows what the world will be like then, let alone my capabilities. 

Here is the link. I know the world is skint. If you can afford anything now, never or in 2022 it's all good and I'm forever grateful. ​

https://www.justgiving.com/account/your-pages/JILL-MEAD1