Rob and Beckys London Marathon 2020
Robert Copsey is raising money for Blesma The Limbless Veterans
In memory of Dave Lewan
Story
News update ! I ran the SVN marathon at Gravesend cyclopark today ! 5h 5mins !
News update ! I swam the channel in a relay !
We did it as a team ! 16hours 5mins
NEWs UPDATE ! 08/08/2020
As the marathon has been postponed until 2021 I’ve decided to add another challenge to this page!
I’m now due to SWIM the ENGLISH CHANNEL in a TEAM RELAY.
I’m due to to SWIM between the 10th & 17th of August and could get the call to swim as early as tomorrow am!
My wife, Becky was lucky enough to get a place in the 2020 London marathon ballot. I therefore decided that this would be our only opportunity to ever run the London marathon together so applied for a BLESMA charity place. As Becky is a type one diabetic, I felt it would be safer if I was there for her on her journey too. I was delighted to be informed that I had been given a charity place for BLESMA.
As my friends and family all know, in 1994, I was in Rwanda with the Royal Engineers building a Bailey Bridge and was blown up by a land mine. As a consequence I lost my right leg below the knee. Following my injury, I was contacted by the charity BLESMA. They offered me help throughout my recovery and rehabilitation phase and this help has continued, where needed, for 25 years since my injury. The help during my early recovery phase is something I will always be thankful for and raising money for BLESMA helps me to give a little back to them that they have given to me.
We will be using this page as our joint fund raising page and we appreciate every penny you can spare, it is much appreciated.
This marathon will be challenging for both of us, although I have done 5 marathons and an ultra before, it will not be a walk in the park. As an amputee, I have to work 50% harder than an able bodied person using a prosthetic leg. I am currently struggling to get a prosthetic leg to fit therefore this will be my first task and I am currently in the process of changing limb centres to one that can accommodate an active amputee. I am looking forward to the challenge of another marathon and will be using it as a reason to improve my fitness.
As a type one diabetic, Becky will face her own challenges. Becky was diagnosed with Type one diabetes at the age of 7. She has lived with the ups and downs of the disease and every day, we are both aware of the impact that this has on her health. Type one diabetes is a constant balance of food, energy and insulin to regulate blood sugars, on an average day, Becky checks her blood sugars at least once an hour. . Running a marathon will be a constant maintenance and constant checking of blood sugars throughout (luckily she has been funded a libre which will help massively), she will be keeping a close eye on blood sugars and giving insulin as we go. The training runs will be so important to give her an idea of what her blood sugars will be doing during the long runs. She has completed one marathon before but the training for that was extremely problematic due to wide fluctuations in blood sugars and her longest run before her last marathon was 12 miles. We hope that it will be different this time and hope to have a better idea of how to manage blood sugars and running. Thinking about anything on top of keeping your legs moving, is a marathon is a feat in itself!
We are yet to decide whether we run together or not but the training runs will give us more of an idea if this is feasible.
Here’s some info about the charity we are running for ....
Blesma, The Limbless Veterans, is dedicated to assisting serving and ex-Service men and women who have suffered life-changing limb loss or the loss of use of a limb, an eye or loss of sight. We support these men and women in their communities throughout the UK and overseas. We work tirelessly for our Members when the conflicts that have affected their lives are no longer a focal point in the nation’s media. Since 1932, we have been the only national Service charity that supports limbless veterans for the duration of their lives. Our Members range from the youngest amputee veterans to those who fought in WWII, some having lived with limb loss for more than half a century. Modern medicine transforms the physical injury, but it is a complicated process to treat the emotional trauma and related lifelong health problems.Blesma provides a network where Members not only enjoy support from our professional Welfare Team, but where they have the opportunity to engage with others who have similar injuries and backgrounds to themselves, building an important fellowship with each other to overcome everyday battles.
News update ! I swam the channel in a relay !
We did it as a team ! 16hours 5mins
NEWs UPDATE ! 08/08/2020
As the marathon has been postponed until 2021 I’ve decided to add another challenge to this page!
I’m now due to SWIM the ENGLISH CHANNEL in a TEAM RELAY.
I’m due to to SWIM between the 10th & 17th of August and could get the call to swim as early as tomorrow am!
My wife, Becky was lucky enough to get a place in the 2020 London marathon ballot. I therefore decided that this would be our only opportunity to ever run the London marathon together so applied for a BLESMA charity place. As Becky is a type one diabetic, I felt it would be safer if I was there for her on her journey too. I was delighted to be informed that I had been given a charity place for BLESMA.
As my friends and family all know, in 1994, I was in Rwanda with the Royal Engineers building a Bailey Bridge and was blown up by a land mine. As a consequence I lost my right leg below the knee. Following my injury, I was contacted by the charity BLESMA. They offered me help throughout my recovery and rehabilitation phase and this help has continued, where needed, for 25 years since my injury. The help during my early recovery phase is something I will always be thankful for and raising money for BLESMA helps me to give a little back to them that they have given to me.
We will be using this page as our joint fund raising page and we appreciate every penny you can spare, it is much appreciated.
This marathon will be challenging for both of us, although I have done 5 marathons and an ultra before, it will not be a walk in the park. As an amputee, I have to work 50% harder than an able bodied person using a prosthetic leg. I am currently struggling to get a prosthetic leg to fit therefore this will be my first task and I am currently in the process of changing limb centres to one that can accommodate an active amputee. I am looking forward to the challenge of another marathon and will be using it as a reason to improve my fitness.
As a type one diabetic, Becky will face her own challenges. Becky was diagnosed with Type one diabetes at the age of 7. She has lived with the ups and downs of the disease and every day, we are both aware of the impact that this has on her health. Type one diabetes is a constant balance of food, energy and insulin to regulate blood sugars, on an average day, Becky checks her blood sugars at least once an hour. . Running a marathon will be a constant maintenance and constant checking of blood sugars throughout (luckily she has been funded a libre which will help massively), she will be keeping a close eye on blood sugars and giving insulin as we go. The training runs will be so important to give her an idea of what her blood sugars will be doing during the long runs. She has completed one marathon before but the training for that was extremely problematic due to wide fluctuations in blood sugars and her longest run before her last marathon was 12 miles. We hope that it will be different this time and hope to have a better idea of how to manage blood sugars and running. Thinking about anything on top of keeping your legs moving, is a marathon is a feat in itself!
We are yet to decide whether we run together or not but the training runs will give us more of an idea if this is feasible.
Here’s some info about the charity we are running for ....
Blesma, The Limbless Veterans, is dedicated to assisting serving and ex-Service men and women who have suffered life-changing limb loss or the loss of use of a limb, an eye or loss of sight. We support these men and women in their communities throughout the UK and overseas. We work tirelessly for our Members when the conflicts that have affected their lives are no longer a focal point in the nation’s media. Since 1932, we have been the only national Service charity that supports limbless veterans for the duration of their lives. Our Members range from the youngest amputee veterans to those who fought in WWII, some having lived with limb loss for more than half a century. Modern medicine transforms the physical injury, but it is a complicated process to treat the emotional trauma and related lifelong health problems.Blesma provides a network where Members not only enjoy support from our professional Welfare Team, but where they have the opportunity to engage with others who have similar injuries and backgrounds to themselves, building an important fellowship with each other to overcome everyday battles.