On 6th March 2016 I'll be running the Paris half marathon. 

This will be my first ever half-marathon. My limited experience to date includes 2 x 10km runs in 2015 plus running the Marathon du Medoc. The Marathon du Medoc is indeed a full 42km/26 miles, but you get to stop every couple of km to drink some wine... As you can imagine, 21km with neither stops nor wine is pretty daunting to me. I'm going to need all the encouragement I can get. 

I'll be raising money for 3 wonderful charities. This page is raising money for Meningitis Now. To see the 2 other charities I'm raising money for, click here: https://www.justgiving.com/teams/pipparimmer

These charities have been chosen by my good friend Amanda McDonald. Amanda and I have been friends for over 10 years and I was devastated to learn in 2015 that she was suffering from terminal breast cancer. You can find out more about Amanda's journey with Cancer on her blog here: http://ukbreastcancertips.blogspot.co.uk 

In typically selfless Amanda-style, to celebrate her life she chose to raise as much money for 3 of her favourite charities, through a variety of events. She is currently at £8.5K of her £10K. (You can follow her overall progress here: https://www.justgiving.com/teams/amandamcdonald)

If we could help her get a little closer to that 10K mark through my event, that would be just fantastic. 

Why these 3 charities? 

Douglas Macmillan Hospice. This local hospice, where Amanda plans to go, provides their charitable services free of charge to adults with life limiting illnesses in the North Staffordshire area and also provides much needed supportive care for their families and carers. 75% of its income comes from voluntary donations. The 'Dougie Mac' also looked after my late Grandma in her final weeks, and we were very grateful for the wonderful care they provided. 

The Migraine Trust. Amanda has suffered from chronic migraines for over 20 years and this is a very much under supported cause. According to the Department of Health in 2005 eight million people get migraines making it the most prevalent long term neurological condition.

Meningitis Now. Amanda's beloved sister, Steph, died of meningitis aged only 15. This potentially fatal, and dangerously fast acting condition, is an inflammation of the membranes that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord, and can be caused by different organisms, including bacteria and viruses.

How to donate

Unfortunately it is not possible to donate once and have the money split automatically between the charities. Please choose one or more charities to donate to, click through the individual pages below, and you can make a donation through that individual page. 

Donating in euros

This page is set to pounds by default, but if there are any Frenchies (or other Euro-spenders) who'd like to donate, it is possible to switch currencies when you donate, without incurring any bank fees.