A Big Thank You...We are Past The Half Way Stage

A big, big thank you to so many who have supported me so far. Friends, family, neighbours, customers and businesses (sorry if I have left anyone out). I have only been fund raising for around 3-4 weeks and I am truly amazed at the response, and the the generosity has been overwhelming.

A special thanks goes to Graham Milne of Just Keepers Ltd in Hinckley for the printing of tee shirts and the overprinting of my running vest. To have art work dropped on you in the morning and the printing finished by the afternoon was tremendous. Well done Graham and thank you so much for your time and generosity.

What The Papers Have to Say

Hinckley Times 12th April
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Leicester Mercury Saturday 7th April
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My Running Companions

Thanks to my running mates, Rachel "Rascal" Riley and Shawn "Badger" Wilebore for the company during training, especially on those cold, wet, and occasional, snowy mornings. All of my training runs during the week have been early in the morning and believe me, there has been many a morning I could have stayed in bed. So thank you Rachel for your dedication and determination in getting me up and out during the week.

6 o'clock on a Sunday morning certainly isn't an ideal time to rise in order to be out running and on the road for 7. Thanks to you Shawn and to you as well Rachel, for getting me up at such ridiculous and unearthly hours of the day.

Finally, thank you to my wife Paula, for putting up with me!!

Training

My training for this challenge started immediately after Christmas. The Charnwood Hills race was set for the beginning of February, 13.2 miles of tough and undulating off road running over Bradgate Park, Broombriggs, Beacon Hill and back. So I decided to enter for this one, as I had done for the past three years and the training for this race over the preceding weeks before the race was tough as we were running the course, on average, twice a week.

From then on, my early Sunday morning long runs have been around 17 miles. My run has taken me through Sapcote, on to Croft, over Croft Hill, (sometimes 2 to 3 times, depending how much energy I had), round the back of Calor Gas at Stoney Stanton, on to Earl Shilton, The Common and then home. A tough but rewarding run.

Today, Sunday 1^st April, I completed 19.5miles. An undulating and tiring course of cross-country, canal towpaths and roads saw me back in 2 hours 50 minutes.

Over the next couple of weeks I will be taking things a little easier in readiness for my first marathon – The Bath Beat

My Marathon Running

Running is my passion, and there is nothing more rewarding than to rise to a challenge that can benefit others whilst enjoying something that you love so much. I have ran in a number of marathons before, but over the last few years, I have twice ran two marathons back to back while raising money for Children with Leukaemia. In 2005 I ran in the Paris Marathon and then the following week in the London Marathon. Last year I ran in the Rotterdam Marathon and again followed on with the London Marathon the week after. So, after two back to back marathons, it seemed obvious for my next challenge to be three....or even four back to back marathons.

I suppose this wild idea of mine was bourne last year. Paula, my wife, and I were due to run in the New York Marathon, again running for Children with Leukaemia. Sadly Paula had contracted the Epstein-barr Virus (EBV), a very debillitating virus, which saps your body of energy and renders the sufferer with permanent tiredness. This meant that her training for a marathon was almost an impossible task. We had no choice other than to cancel our places and forego a wonderful oportunity.

In the months after, I continued my marathon training and decided to run in the Leicester Marathon in October as preparation for the Snowdon Marathon (very scenic as seen in the above photo) two weeks later. In this race I achieved a PB by taking 13 minutes off my previous marathon best and finishing in a time of 3hrs 23mins. Two weeks later I ran in the Snowdonia Marathon and finally in one of the last marathons of the year, I took part in the Luton Marathon at the beginning of December. I was now looking forward to my next challenge in 2007.