Quite a few people might know that I have always wanted
to do the London Marathon. It has been on my bucket list for years, and next
year I get the opportunity to complete it.

Since I was a kid running for Wakefield Harriers then
moving to Barnsley athletic club (still having my race vest), I have always
done long distance running. I have had the opportunity to run with some
fantastic club runners, and the greatest long distance event to me was always
London Marathon.  Finding out that I
couldn’t enter until the age of 18 smashed those dreams for a while. Since I
turned that magic 18, I always said I will do it one day. For the last 14 years
I, along with several hundreds of thousands of others, have joined the ballot
to get an entry. And for 14 years, I have been told that my entry has not been
successful.

After last year’s rejection, I said to myself, “No. That’s
it. I’m not going to do it again. I will not enter the ballot for 2020”.  But low and behold, entries opened for the
2020 event, and I soon found myself filling in the form once more and joined
the other half a million who entered for the 40th anniversary of the event.
Guess what - 15th Time lucky!! I got a Yes- that means in 2020 I am running the
London marathon. Will I make it?

In the past 7-8 years I have done quite a few events:
10km, half marathons, marathons and also these distances over some of the
hardest terrains I have seen in the peak district. I have also been doing other
more extreme races. I have done Tough Guy - (some call this the toughest race
in the Uk) a few times and I am one of only four people to complete it carrying
a car tyre (that was an interesting day) . Saying I was one of four people to
complete that event, the other 3 I was with are good friends of mine and we
have done a few silly challenging events over the past few years under the name
Spare Tyre Runners hence the car tyre, and before you ask or suggest -No !I
will not be doing the London Marathon carrying a car tyre lol.

Over the 14 years I have been trying to get entry, I have
been offered a place to do the London marathon under a charity. But they wanted
me to raise a massive amount of money for their charity, sometimes in excess of
£2000, which I believe is a lot for anyone to try and raise, and this is one of
the reasons why I have never taken their offer up.

So why, you might ask, am I asking for donations for a
charity then? Well, Bluebell Wood has not asked me to do this, nor have they
asked me to get a set amount of money raised. I choose to raise for Bluebell
wood as they are a local charity for Kids and parents, and I think people
forget these smaller local charities when raising money.

If you don’t know what bluebell wood is, let me tell you
about them. Bluebell Wood Provides Care for children and young adults whose
lives are sadly just too short, both in their own homes and at their hospice in
North Anston.

Bluebell Wood believe that every family deserves to make
magical memories with their child, whether they have years, months, weeks or
days together.

Bluebell Wood is a home from home for families facing the
toughest of times, with a comfy lounge and beautiful gardens. They are always
cooking up mouth-watering meals and tasty treats in the kitchen for the
families. There’s also plenty of fun activities for children to try, including
soft play, arts and crafts, music therapy and much more.

While they’re staying with Bluebell Wood, children have
one of eight bedrooms. If their family is staying too, then parents have their
own room.

Every day, Bluebell Wood need to raise £11,000 to keep
their doors open, and only around 10% of their funding is from the government.
Everything else is paid for by the wonderful work that fundraisers do; Recently
in a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection; they are proud that they
received a rating of 'Outstanding' for being a caring service.

So please help me raise money and make my entry into the
London marathon one to remember for everyone.