Hi there -

and a sincere thank you for visiting my fundraising page where I would like to share some of my thoughts on the challenge of a lifetime facing me in April. My name is Geoff Sherwin and I'm asking you to help me do something very special!

On Sunday 17th April 2005 I will be running 26.2 miles in the Flora London Marathon for the charity MENCAP.

The company I work for - EDF Energy - has pledged to MATCH any sponsorship money I raise - so ANY amount you can spare will be DOUBLED!

In addition - if you are a UK taxpayer A FURTHER 28% WILL BE ADDED to the value of your sponsorship donation by the government as all proceeds raised via this web site are automatically GIFT AIDED! MENCAP is the leading charity for helping people with learning disabilities. They ensure that people with a learning disability can really get the opportunities and support they deserve. So why am I doing this....? Two reasons really. The first has to do with the fact that in the world that we live in today it is very easy to get so preoccupied with our own day to day lives and dealing with what life throws at us without seemingly having time to think about all those people whose lives are so much more harder than our own - I wanted to do something about that. I have worked in a voluntary capacity with people that have learning disabilities in the past and found it very rewarding. For many years I have wanted to do the London Marathon but there has never been a reason, plus in the past I simply never had the time due to work commitments. Then MENCAP became our company charity for the next two years and I knew now was the time to stop thinking about it and I stepped forward. From that moment onwards everything has just snowballed!

It was last December when I was offered the place in the London Marathon, which was quite late really - ideally it would have been better to have known a few months earlier to have longer to prepare never the less the opportunity was there. I decided I was going to find the time to make it happen - something I have found incredibly difficult. To do this basically I wouldn't have a normal life for 4/5 months. My life would consist of training, training and more training... and fundraising activities. With training taking place over many months in all weathers, sometimes I'm preparing for a training session at 6:30am in the morning or completing a session at 10:00pm in the evening - any time I can fit it around work and family life...it's a punishing schedule. The amount of miles I run varies considerably depending on at what point in training I'm at. It can be as much as 35 miles a week or less than 5. In the 16 weeks I've been preparing for the race I've covered 277 Miles...and spent hours in the gym cross training. When the training runs pass 15 miles you spend parts of your week finding ways to manage a certain amount of pain, discomfort and exhaustion as your body adapts. You learn to differentiate what is acceptable pain and exhaustion and what isn't! Also when to push your body to its limit and when to ease off.

The second reason for doing the London Marathon is the enormous personal challenge. The marathon has a proud history and is steeped in tradition. History records that in 490 B.C., the soldier Pheidippides, covered the distance from a battlefield near Marathon, Greece, to Athens in order to bring the news of a Greek victory over the Persians. At the end of this historical run he just had the strength to say "we won", and then died from the exertions of fulfilling his duty! Sadly in the 25 years the London Marathon has been in existence there has been seven cardiac deaths that have been reported which certainly focuses the mind when thinking about the event. Anyone contemplating attempting the London Marathon MUST take the training VERY SERIOUSLY and not underestimate what they are taking on and be prepared to put in a lot of time. To empathize this point I would like to share an experience I had with my son Steve on a training run a little while ago:- Steve is a very fit 17 year old student studying to be a chef and has a part time Saturday job, so doesn't have a lot of money. He very generously sponsored me £26.20 for the Marathon when he knew I was doing it. I was about to go off on a 13.1 mile run (half marathon) and he asked if he could join me. So off we went. He did very well up to about 10 miles when to use his words he said "Every part of my body is telling me to stop!" During the last 3 miles he looked as though he was going to stop a few times but with a little encouragement - to his credit he didn't - even though he was getting nauseous. Suffice to say he had looked better when we completed the run! Especially when I said "Now imagine you have got to do it all again right now!" It was what he said to me next as he was recovering that was memorable. He said "You have got to experience this to understand just how hard it is - to appreciate the degree of exhaustion involved. If you manage to get to the end of the Marathon I'll give you another £26.20!!"

It is very difficult to get to run in the London Marathon in the first place - so I'm really pleased to have gained a place. There are 37,500 taking part in the race out of 98,500 applicants ....with 13,937 not making it to the end of the race last year I believe! INTERESTING FACT: If you do make it to the end of a marathon you will temporarily be up to two centimetres shorter because of the physical stress your body absorbs during the race. When you do get a place you have to pay £100 out of your own pocket to register for the race plus other expenses which will by April amount to approx. £500 in total!! Originally my target was £2,000. I thought I would be struggling to attain that. How wrong I was - my original target has nearly been reached (We're at £1,778.42 as I write), with 55 days to go to race day. The way my friends, family, work colleagues and total strangers have supported and encouraged me has restored my faith in human nature.

Thank you so much to everyone who has already sponsored me and for the wonderful words of encouragement. To those of you who are considering helping me go on to reach the new target I have set myself - £4,000 - which some have said cannot be reached! - your continuing support WILL MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE. I have NEVER run any type of road race before - this will be the greatest physical challenge of my life and I think it will be a 'Life Event' to be remembered. I have been told by those that know that it is unlikely that I will finish in under 4 hours because I have never done anything like this before and because I've just turned 44! So that said I will of course be looking to finish in under 4 hours!! I would like to take this opportunity to thank the kind hearted people who have supported me in this endeavour - you know who you are - particularly friends and colleagues at EDF Energy, Exeter. Special thanks to my family... and Jayne, my partner - who has supported me throughout. MENCAP could do so much good with £4,000 - you can help me make it happen.

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Mencap will receive your money faster and remember that your sponsorship will be DOUBLED by EDF Energy. In addition please do remember that if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you by the nice tax man. Thanks for taking the time to read this far. It is really appreciated. So what are you waiting for? Go and find that flexible friend and sponsor me now while you are thinking about it! Or... if you would like to speak to me personally about alternative ways that you may sponsor me I would be more than happy to have a chat with you. You can contact me on 01803 328942.

Believe me; I will earn every single penny! Many thanks again for your support.

Geoff Sherwin.

Footnote 1. The Bideford Half Marathon - Sunday 6th March 2005 As part of the preparation for the London Marathon I was strongly advised to do a half marathon race which I did today with my son Steve. A great experience. I did the distance in 1 Hour 49 Minutes 47 Secs coming 410th out of 810! A new personal best time for me. Steve did the distance in 1 Hour 46 Minutes 46 Seconds coming 370th 3 Minutes 1 Second faster! What a dark horse and what a performance he put in - I was very proud of him. I take some comfort in the fact that he is 27 years younger than me!

Much was learnt from the race which hopefully will be applied on the day when I do the London Marathon. What a fantastic day even though I did manage to injure my left knee and was in totally agony for over a week - not even being able to drive because of the pain involved in moving my foot from one pedal to another! I had to stop training for 10 days.

 

Footnote 2. Final long training run. (21 Miles) - Sunday 20th March 2005 Did my longest run today 21 miles in 4 Hours 2 Minutes 30 Seconds. Which indicates that the London Marathon will take approx. 5 Hours 2 Minutes 32 Seconds! The pain I was in from 17 miles onwards was unimaginable and it was very strange having my brain send signals down to my legs to run and being hardly able to move them! But a very important stage in the training even though we finished at 10:00pm tonight! 'We' being my son who kept me company. (On a bike!) To my relief I recovered much faster than when I did the half marathon however it made me realise that trying to do the London Marathon in less than 4 hours probably isn't going to happen. So I will be more than happy to finish in one piece in less than 5 hours and this is what I will be aiming for on the day. Suddenly the marathon seems very close - only 29 days to go!

 

Footnote 3.  I did it!!  4 Hours 46 Minutes 18 Seconds.  What an experience...and the new £5,000 target has been smashed as well!  That's all down to you guys....my sincere thanks to everyone who sponsored me.