Why Rainbows?

Rainbows cares for hundreds of families every year who have a baby, child or young person with a serious or terminal illness that means that their lives will be shorter than most. As a Trustee, I've seen first hand the difference Rainbows makes.

Why now?

In 2019 I heard about the Abbot 6 Major Marathons and imagined how good it would be to run them. With younger children and a busy work life this seemed like something I was pretty unlikely to ever achieve. The idea sat with me and I did have 1 ‘star’ from completing London marathon.

Roll forward to 2024 and I’d run a lot more, quickened up a bit and managed a qualifying time for Boston (US) to gain star number 2 (and what a lovely way to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary)! In for a penny, so I applied for Berlin later that year too, trained like mad 6 days a week and ran a personal best with 3hrs 17 mins.

A charity place at Tokyo running for a mental health charity secured star number 4 in March this year but I ran with a swollen knee (initially blamed on the flights). I also secured places for Chicago and New York to complete the six this October and November. So when a knee consultant started using words like worn cartilage, bone-on-bone and conservative management, I cried. I use running to de-junk my brain and spend quality time with friends. It energises me, it’s my passion and has been a big part of my life.

I’m still hoping to run Chicago and New York this autumn but can only run twice a week so I'm sort of replacing running with strength training and an exercise bike (eugh!).

Marathons are hard even with proper training so I will need some luck and extra motivation to get round these. For that reason, I’m running to raise money for Rainbows Children’s Hospice. Because compared to what those children and families endure, my dodgy knee is irrelevant.

Double the difference!

Our company is going to match all donations to make double the difference so if you could spare a few pounds I would be most grateful :-)

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.