Thank you very much for taking time to visit my charity page!

My running challenge, which is 6.5years in the making, is to run the 26.5mile Brighton and Dublin Marathons in April and October 2018, and to complete my 100th Half Marathon by the end of December 2018 (each at least 13.1 miles) 

I'm near the end of achieving this big goal having completed the Brighton Marathon in 3hours 28mins in April and clocked up 99 Half Marathons already! I’m now tapering down my training for the Dublin Marathon in late October, and focusing in on my final Half - The Poppy Half Marathon in Bexhill, UK on 10th November 2018!! I have decided to make this all the more purposeful by dedicating this effort to an incredibly important charity WOMANKIND - which works hard internationally to end violence against women and girls, fighting for Women's economic rights, control over resources, equal influence in decision making and ability to exercise political power. 

I’m fundraising for this essential cause because I strongly believe a more equal world, where women feel empowered, respected and safe, is critical to the success and development of more humane and progressive societies. Equality benefits the safety and living standards of everyone in the long run, and i'd happily run my little legs ragged to raise some funding for this righteous support network.

I am no great athlete, and many other runners could run faster and further than i do. But having weekly running goals and training plans has made me feel stronger and more peaceful, and given me plenty of time to think about how very lucky i am to be able to run when i want, without fear or anxiety. My life is relatively easy in conparison to those who are disempowered or whose freedom of movement and social mobility is supressed, even when it's made slightly more arduous through physical challenges such as these, and trying to squeeze a little charity money out of people for a really great cause.

I’ve run 5 full Marathons in the past, but gave up this long distance 6years ago because it hurt a great deal, takes a long time to prepare for, and is rather punishing on your body and mind. I found them pretty overwhelming to be honest, and therefore decided to ease off a bit and set myself a kinder challenge of running as many Half Marathons as i possibly could, which i recover from much more quickly. I started with a wild goal of 50, but having reached it running a half marathon every month i decided to raise the bar a bit and go for 100 running a half most weeksend to speed it along. When i reach 100 i’ll probably do 200, but that’s not to say this is an easy task for me, but rather that some regular difficulty and challenge keeps me fit and well grounded, and doing it for an important cause i believe in makes it feel like a fitting accomplishment. I wish i could give more!

On 8th November 2015 i turned 44 years old, and ran my 44th Half Marathon! (i've not been planning this challenge my whole life, it was just a happy accident!:)  My 50th Half Marathon took place on 22nd May 2016 - the hilly Snowdonia Half Marathon in the beautiful mountainous national park in North Wales. My 78th Half Marathon was an icy wet race through the streets of Paris for the epic Semi Marathon on 4th March 2018. Every run is special. Sometimes i run organised races, and sometimes i just set out on my own and run. Races ought not always be organised, as that challenge favors only those who can afford the expensive registration costs. Running is the body moving free, and anyone ought to be able to set themselves the challenge of running a half marathon anywhere they are on any day of the week, without needing a shrapnel completion medal at the end to feel good about it.  I decided to up my game this year and work towards training for another full Marathon or two because I felt my fitness and stamina had sufficiently improved to give it another shot: So here goes the big ones!!:)

Every little helps, no matter how small a donation: Little by little, it all adds up to a very useful sum!

Please help motivate me towards reaching this big goal helping a great charity WOMANKIND, by lending your generous support to this great cause.

Thank you very much for your kind support, and encouragement!:)

Julian Roberts

Follow my running adventures here: http://julianand.tumblr.com

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