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I am taking on two 70.3 Ironman distance triathlons in July and August 2015 and like my first marathon and first 70.3 ironman last year in Mallorca I feel I could maybe make this a little worthwhile cause and raise a little bit of well needed cash for Cancer Research UK.  I have raised about £500 over the last few years by taking on different challenges and every penny counts as it goes to the essential research into Cancer which affects us all as I'm sure all of us have a friend or family member who is battling Cancer right now or sadly lost their battle.

I shall be racing the half iron man distance in Austria in August - the biggie (1.2 mile swim in the lake, 56 mile bike ride in the Austrian Alps, followed immediately by 13.1 mile run) in memory of 2 close friends who touched my heart in different ways and who both lost their lives to Cancer in the last 12 months. 

Firstly my beloved running Coach and dear friend Greg Hopkins, who lost his battle to stomach Cancer a year ago almost to the day.  Greg was my Coach, biggest fan and closest friend. An example of his selflessness - he used to drive behind me while I was training for Belfast and Dublin marathon and hand me water and anything else he thought I may need.  The drive must have taken about 3 hours at such an incredibly slow pace.  But Greg always had time for everyone and i know was equally good to all his running club members.  He always used to shove 20 quid in my shopping basket in Asda every time I bumped into him (which was defo once a week) and told me to buy myself a bottle of wine.  He didn't have much himself and i appreciated this act of kindness so so much. I knew it gave him great pleasure.  During his final months of life we went to little coffee shops (mainly Browns in Ballyclare was our favourite) and not once would he let me buy him a coffee.  A true gentleman with a heart of gold who I miss dearly every day.  He was like a father to me and offered great advice on every topic of life.

The 2nd person I am racing in Austria in memory of is Elena Evans, a lady I recently became very close to and very fond of. She was my beautician - a stunning lady from Mexico - we got on like a house on fire and laughed so much at every visit to her own spa clinic. She used to call me "my darling" and made me feel incredibly special just by saying these 2 words and her special interest in me and my fitness and my triathlon endeavours. She used to say "my darling, why do you not buy yourself a nice handbag and shoes instead of all this hard work you do!" which made me laugh each time and sometimes question my sport :)  She confided parts of her precious life with me and vice versa - again she made me feel like a daughter (she was only 53) I lost my own mother when she was 54 so I became very close to Elena.  We talked of working together in the future ... but one day I phoned to book my apt and one of the other lovely therapists told me the devastating news that Elena had been diagnosed with lung cancer which was terminal and had probably had it for about 2 years already and had only days to live. I was shocked to the core. Another friend, another good person, struck down with this beast of an illness.  I feel privileged to have had a few weeks to visit Elena in the Macmillan suite in Antrim and read her favourite book to her during her final weeks. She seemed to really enjoy these visits - I wish i could have gone every day.  Such a graceful, beautiful, successful and wonderful caring woman with 2 beautiful daughters and a little baby grandson.  She lost her battle only a few weeks ago and I miss her voice, her laughter and someone special calling me "my darling". 

We have all lost someone special to Cancer - it never seems to go away,  it's scary how many people are fighting this illness.  I hope I can raise a little cash by taking on these crazy races - I hope to make it a less selfish sporting pursuit where hopefully a few other may benefit from.  Thank you so much. Every penny will go to help research into this fatal illness that is never far away from any of us.

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