A few weeks before race day the envelope came through the door containing the bright green and blue Alzheimer’s Society t-shirt and some iron on letters to put my name on. It dawned on me then that it was real, I was be going to run a whole 10k! I remember feeling proud as I put the vest on to do my last long training run, which at that point in my running journey was still being done on the treadmill! I did about 8.5km in an hour... something I can't imagine doing now, a whole hour running to nowhere on a bloody treadmill! Days later I felt that same pride as I crossed the finishing line, challenge complete and some good money raised for the charity my top advertised.
Skip forward just over a year and that familiar feeling of pride mixed with nerves and excitement returned as the British Legion t-shirt plonked on the doormat ahead of my first ever half marathon back in 2016. Firmly a runner at this point, I set my sights on the half marathon and chose British Legion because they’d helped some people very special to me who had sadly passed away in the year before. As the race day came around I once again took to the streets of Nottingham delighted to be doing my bit, celebrating months of training with my first ever half marathon. Another few hundred pounds banked for another fantastic charity.
Then of course there was London! Still the biggest challenge I’ve ever taken and something I’ll be forever grateful to Girlguiding for giving me the opportunity to complete. Months of training which hadn't exactly gone to plan thanks to injuries and the bloody Beast from the East! Once again, a short while before the big day a thick envelope arrived, this time with a bright pink Girlguiding top. As a life long member and advocate for the charity, this one meant so much to me. With so many fond thoughts of the people and memories Girlguiding has given me to keep me company as I ran, walked and dragged myself through the streets of London, I couldn’t have been prouder of the charity splashed across my t-shirt, and of course the £2,500 I raised for them!
And now here we are again. With just over four weeks to go until the Royal Parks Half Marathon, today a lovely bright blue and red t-shirt made its way to my doorstep. This time it’s the Make A Wish foundation, and I can’t wait to run through the parks of London promoting them, hopefully with a good pot of money to hand over to celebrate the hard work I’ve done to prepare. It feels a bit strange because it’s the first time I’m raising money doing a race that won’t be my furthest ever. So I’m going for a different plan of attack... the alcohol has been cut out and I’m pushing as much as I can in these final few weeks so hopefully give people who kindly get behind me a bit of value for money. With a splattering of stars on the back of my top which I’m hoping to get sponsors for, I’ll have a whole bunch of reasons to keep going and do my best come race day.
Running has given me so much over the last few years, but without a doubt one of the things I’m most proud of is the ability it's given me to ‘do my bit' for the various charities I’ve proudly supported over the years.
I couldn’t really finish this post off without a shameless plug to my fundraising page for the latest one...click here to donate!
