No I'm not going to run solidly for a year … that would be daft. I had originally planned to do the London Marathon in 2012 unfortunately I didn't manage to get a place through the ballot and could not commit to the amount of fundraising required to secure a charity place. So a quick rethink was in order. As a London Marathon Ballot unsuccessful I was able to take a guaranteed place in the Edinburgh Marathon as a bit of a bonus the Edinburgh Marathon is thought to be one of the easier marathons so I got myself signed up. Things then started to spiral out of control a little bit and I am now running 10 events over roughly a year with a total distance of almost 150 miles and that doesn't include all the training!
So why am I doing it … mainly to get fit and loose a bit of weight but also to raise some money for charity. I couldn't decide which charity to run for this year, but as it is such a big challenge for me to run almost 150 miles worth of events this year I though I would support 3, Yorkshire Air Ambulance, Round Table Childrens Wish and Help For Heroes. Please sponsor me, every little helps. Because it's 2012 and it seems to be the fashionable amount I'm aiming for £2012 over the year (for each charity would be fantastic but I think across all 3 is a little more realistic).
Yorkshire Air Ambulance
As I now consider myself an honorary Yorkshireman I wanted to support a local charity. I hope to never have to use the services of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, but with a wife, 2 kids and some slightly more adventurous pastimes than most it is nice to know it is there!
In order to keep the 2 helicopters in the air YAA needs to raise £7200 a day and relies entirely on donations to do so. Since it inception in 2000 the helicopters of YAA have rescued nearly 4000 patients giving each of them a far higher chance of survival, especially when things go wrong in remote places. As a kayaker and mountain biker I, along with my friends and sometimes family, am often doing 'risky' things in remote places. I am lucky enough to have not had to use the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, although have been given a lift off Cairngorm in a Mountain Rescue Helicopter, but it is a great comfort to know that if things did go very badly wrong the helicopter puts us 15 minutes from hospital rather than hours.
Round Table Children's Wish
I have supported Round Table Children's Wish for a number of years now. Round Table Children's Wish grant wishes for children with life threatening and terminal illnesses. The wishes are what the children want whether they are a life long dream or a day of 'normality' in a life that is so often filled with hospitals and pain. I think the video below tells the story better than I ever could but be warned it is likely to make you blub!
Help For Heroes
I've always though that this is a charity that shouldn't need to exist. Our service men and women should be looked after well enough by the country they serve but unfortunately they are not. Help For Heroes tries help the wounded Servicemen and women. These are ordinary people doing extraordinary things and some of them are living with the consequences of their service for life. We may not be able to prevent our soldiers from being wounded, but together we can help them get better.
http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/
It's Your Choice
Just Giving doesn't support splitting the money between charities so I have 3 pages. So you can choose to sponsor me all at 1 charity or split it between the 3 however you want, they are all very worthy causes:
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 and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
I've paid for all the events myself so every single penny raised in sponsorship will go straight to the charities. So please dig deep and donate now at the very least I'd like to raise more for the charities than I've paid in race entry fees!
Events
Great North Run 2011 – September 18th
13.1 Miles – Finished – Race Number 54305 - Time: 2:45:20
Dalby Dash 2011 – November 13th
10K – Finished – Race Number: 30 - Time: 59:42
York Brass Monkey 2012 – January 22nd
13.1 Miles – Finished – Race Number: 614 – Time: 2:07:18
Silverstone Half Marathon 2012 – March 11th
13.1 Miles – Entered
Leeds Half Marathon 2012 – May 13th
13.1 Miles – Entered
Edinburgh Marathon 2012 – May 27th
26.2 Miles – Entered
Humber Bridge Half Marathon 2012 – June 24th
13.1 Miles – Entered
York Run For All – August 5th
10K – Entered
Great North Run 2012 – September 16th
13.1 miles – Entered
Liverpool Marathon 2012 – October 14th
26.2 miles – Entered
Dalby Dash 2012 – November 11th
10K – Entered