Hi everyone — welcome to my JustGiving page!

For the past three months I’ve been training for the Maverick Brighton Trail Marathon — a slightly bonkers 36K run that traverses the hills of the South Downs before finishing with a gentle* 6K of road running (up Ditchling… eek) that merges with the Brighton Marathon and ends on Hove Lawns.

(*Gentle may be optimistic.)

It’s the first time the two marathons will converge like this so it's exciting… but also mildly terrifying.

Training so far has involved slogging through wind and rain, dodging puddles, running up and down hills, complaining to anyone who will listen, and attempting to ignore a very annoying hamstring that strongly disagrees with this whole idea.

At one point I was feeling rather despondent about the whole thing when a friend asked if I was raising money. I realised that maybe therein lay my problem. My only goal had been to “finish alive” — which, while admirable, lacked a certain motivating spark (aside from the burger and fizz at the finish line to celebrate).

Then I remembered: fundraising gives you purpose. It pushes you out the door when it’s cold, wet and your hamstring is staging a protest.

So this time I’m dusting off the begging bowl — but instead of my usual cancer charity, I’m raising money for Friends of St Mary’s & St Peter’s (SMSP), who work tirelessly to support our wonderful school.

They raise vital funds so our children can enjoy the enriching school experience they deserve. The school constantly exceeds expectations and we feel incredibly lucky to be part of it. Like many schools across the country, resources are stretched, so every little really does help.

If you’re able to donate — whether it’s a lot or a little — I would be hugely grateful.

It’s a brilliant school, the heart of our community, and one that means a lot to our family.

Please also wish me luck… the hills on the South Downs are, unfortunately, very hilly.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.

With love,

Loukie

(a Year 5 & Year 2 mum)