The event is now complete and I promised to let you all know how I got on - I managed 3.54 which I am pleased particuarly as it was 24 C.  My target was sub 4 hours as several of you offered to double your sponsorship, so hope you havn't forgotten as that was a huge incentive!

But a huge, huge thank you to all of  you for your amazing support and generous sponsorship through out all my training and the whole event especially for so many of you who came to watch on the day. In total now including the tax relief I have raised 28,386.18K for PH which I am so thrilled about as triple what I thought I would make. 

We all miss Louise terribly and this really was a tribute to her and every time I hit that wall when running which started for me at 8 miles! what kept me going was thinking about her and all the suffering she endured which was just nothing in comparison. They say you get the bug but NEVER NEVER NEVER again!

 

As most of you sadly know my sister-in-law Louise Church died last summer aged 38 years. This was after a long struggle against an illness called pulmonary hypertension (PH) which resulted in her requiring a double lung and heart transplant that failed.

PH is as serious as cancer and there are no cures. It is high blood pressure in the lungs which can lead to heart failure with extreme cases like Louise requiring transplants. Although PH is a rare illness 596 cases were diagnosed last year and the charity Pulmonary Hypertension Association UK (PHA UK) although small desperately need our help and support to make awareness of this illness as the earlier the condition is caught the better the patient's chances of survival as the heart will be less damaged and the patient will be more likely to respond to treatment. Equally as important they desperately need funds to continue their research and to find a cure.

This year I am running the Flora London Marathon on Sunday 22nd April and am hoping to raise at least £10,000. This is something I promised Louise before she died and have been training since last  September.  I am only ever doing this once so please be generous as I will never ask for sponsorship again!  I will also put on to this website my finish time and the final total raised.

On behalf of PHA UK and myself we thank you in advance for all your help and support.

With best wishes,

Nikki (Jayne) Rhys