My dad fought bowel cancer for almost a decade before advanced Stage 4 meant he had to receive care as an inpatient at Ashgate Hospicecare in Chesterfield. In his last weeks I became part of the weekend furniture at the hospice, arriving late at night or early in the morning after my journey from Bucharest where I work as a teacher. The knowledge that dad was being cared for by a compassionate team, in pleasant surroundings, was an incredible source of comfort and reassurance.
According to Google Maps the distance from home to Ashgate is exactly 2,222km as the crow flies. I'm not desperately unfit but I'm hardly Mo Farah, and I have to complete an average of just under 6.5km a day if I'm to do this before my 40th. I already cycle a 2.5km round trip to/from work, leaving around an extra 4km to run each day (and obviously longer on those days when I'm not at work). It's not a huge daily distance, but it's definitely enough to mean I have to put in consistent effort to do it.
I don't know whether the fundraising target is realistic or not, but it'll be interesting to find out. I'll be adding offline donations to the fund as I go along.
Obviously this is an incredibly personal thing for me, but I hope that as the kilometers begin to clock up I will be able to raise awareness of the brilliant work that Ashgate Hospice does. I'm not one to give up on long-term projects lightly, but this one could be a bruiser.
See you in Chesterfield!
