Thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page. This was last updated 12/10/2011. Well we made it! Rob, Jim and myself ran the 13.1 miles. It was a beautiful morning, a little on the hot side and a very hilly course! Personally, although finding it tough, I genuinely felt so supported by all of you who donated and this undoubtedly spured all of us on - I kept looking at the big hills ahead and thought about your generous donations - thank you to everyone - you have all been so generous xx As predicted, Rob came in at the amazing time of 1hr 46, I follwed behind in exactly 2 hrs and Jim on my heels at 2hrs05. In total we have rased over £1,000 - wow! What a positive way to remember those in our families who have lost their lives through cancer. XXXXXXXXXXXTHANK YOU ONCE AGAINXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

On 25th Septemeber 2011 I am running the Ipswich Half Marathon in memory of my Mum, Stella Castillo-Warnes who died in January of this year following a battle with cancer. Running with me are Rob Ferguson, Jim Kerr and others from the Suffolk Police Custody Team - thanks guys - couldn't not have done this without you!

Most of us have either lost someone or have known someone with cancer - please support us in memory of not just my Mum, but those who you hold dear to your hearts :0) x

I am hoping to link this page to our three chosen charities: Macmillan Cancer Support, Cancer Research and The Suffolk Foundation.

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.

So please dig deep and donate now.

Update 6/9/11: Well - the training is going well. Jim and I decided that this weekend we would both try and run a half (ish) marathon just to check we could make it around the course without embarassing ourselves. I suggested that we did this together but Jim declined saying he didn't want me to know if he found it too tough!! He is such a perfectionist, I know he'll do great. Rob is being very quiet about his training - he I think is going to do a demon time. Anyway - did 12 miles yesterday on my own - fab conditions - lots of hills as is the real course and came in at about 1 hr 45. I must check this route again on 'mapmyrun.com' - it seemed too good to be true. I did feel great - we have recently bought a couple of Kiyaks and have recently paddled several miles up and down the Deben - rowing is certainly helping with the running - improved core body strength which is helping me to fly up the hills! When I got back from the run I was buzzing with how good rowing is for my running and asked Liam if he fancied going out on the river with the boys. He did, so we did. Weather started off fab but after 20 mins took a really bad turn, a strong cross wind came in over the fields - after much battling against the waves of the Deben (yes there were waves!!) we ended up stranded on the mud on the island in the centre of then river...oops! The children were beside themselves, quote from Ollie 'Mummy this is the worse day of my life!'; Yep it was pretty high up there on my list of bad ones too. Anyway, a small yatch went by, obviously took pity on us and came to the rescue - unfortunately the yatch got stuck in the mud on the bank also!! The two retired gentlemen said that we shouldn't worry - we just had to sit and wait for a couple of hours until the tide turned and we could anchor ourselves out....we didn't like to say that Liam had to be at work within an hour!! Luckily with some jolly good sailing from the two chaps we managed to get ourselves off the mud and head back to dry land....cost: meal for two guys at the Maybush but it was worth it!

We have learnt many lessons:

1) Stick to what your good at...ie running

2) If you do decided to have an adventure - do it on a day off

3) Always have your mobile phone when on the rive; Harvey did say 'Mummy just phone 999' - I broke the news that neither Mummy or Daddy had their mobile phones - the children were horrified 'But you always have your phone' - oops!

4) Programme the Harbourmasters number into phone - he was sitting on the beach blissfully unaware of our predicament as we were just out of view.....The result - yesterday I ran 12 miles and paddled for the life of my family and myself.....lost about half a stone and feeling fit as a fiddle! Not all bad then xx :0)