Success in (almost) everyway!!

I have been truly humbled by everyone's support. I originally set a fundraising target which i thought was stretching, verging on the unrealistic. Thanks to overwhelming support, together we raised £1,285 for MacMillan Cancer Support. The challenge was tough, as expected. The Marathon was going exactly to plan for 19 miles but all of a sudden it became clear i couldn't maintain the pace and i had a bit of a breakdown. It's hard to explain but it took a few minutes to convince myself to continue at all. Had it not been for my sponsors and the cancer suffer's we are helping i might have been on the bus. Eventually i got myself together and to my surprise, still manged to cross the line in a respectable 3:15:50. I'm proud of my time, even if i missed my 3 hr target. Unfinished business! 2 weeks later i had almost recovered from the marathon and climbed on the bike at 06:50am in melrose for the 120 mile bike ride. This part of the challenge was also goning to be tough but at least i had 29 other riders for company this time. I eventually completed the loop at 8:30pm, just in time for a well earned post-race party! The challenge has been a huge undertaking, especially the training. It's taken a lot of support from my fantastic wife Alexis. However, even at the hardest times we thought about the people we're helping and my generous sponsors.

 

Thanks again for your amazing support.

 

Keith

 

The Challenge

I think we all have been touched by Cancer indirectly if not directly. Over the last two years my family has been affected more directly than our worst fears. The most profound impact on us was the loss of my father-in-law and true friend Bill. More recently, the sudden loss of our neighbour Jill was a terrible reminder that Cancer is all around us and needs addressed.

These recent experiences have left me determined to help people with Cancer. To this end i am undertaking the hardest challenge of my life to raise sponsorship towards Macmillan Cancer Support. In 2003 i ran my first marathon which took me 4 hours and 25 minutes. This year, motivated by sponsorship, I plan to break the 3 hour barrier in the Edinburgh marathon on Sunday 23 May. This is faster than i ever dared imagine before. I'm taking this more seriously than anything i've done before and have been running approx 100km per week since October in training. To add to the challenge i'm getting on the bike 2 weeks later for a one day, 120 mile charity cycle.

There's gonna be some dark times throughout both races. That's when i'll be thinking of the sponsors that have invested in me and the people that we'll be helping. I understand that inboxes are awash with sponorship requests these days. Any donation will be gratefully received, no matter how small and if this is one request too many i totally understand.

Thanks for taking the time to read.

Keith