In 2016 I ran the London Marathon.  I wasn't much of a runner but wanted to challenge myself.  And it certainly did challenge me!  I didn't realise just how tough it could be but I put in the training and got round the course.

My mum and Dad came to watch and support me which was great.  My mum always supported everything I did and I think it made her proud to see me get round.

My mum was a great lady, her family were her life and we meant everything to her.  She was the rock of the family, she never got sick, she never complained and she never stopped doing things for us all.

Just a few weeks after I finished the Marathon my mum got sick. And she got sick very quickly. Within a couple of weeks we found out that she had stage 4 Ovarian Cancer that had spread through her Lymph System, Lungs and she had developed a tumor within her brain.

For anyone who has had any dealings with cancer they will understand what my mother and the whole family had to endure over the next two months.  It was the hardest thing to go through and my mum went through so much.  

Towards the end of her battle she was transferred to the Florence Nightingale Hospice at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.  Now she had been looked after extremely well during her time at the John Radcliffe but she, and the whole family arrived at the hospice extremely broken.  In every way possible really. 

This is where the Hospice took over and I cannot thank them enough for the way that they dealt with us all.  Honestly, words cannot describe what they are able to do.  Now I wish they could have worked miracles and made everything go away for mum.  But that sadly was never going to be the case.  But what they did do was take away the pain, takeaway the worry, bring some reassurance that we as a family was in the best possible place.

The work they did for mum, the palliative care they gave her, the calm, approachable and caring support they showed my mum and the whole family is something I will always be indebted for.

My mum passed away whilst in the hospice on the 5th October that year. 

It hit us all very hard.  We knew mum wasn't going to get better, but that doesn't make it any easier. 

It was shortly after mum passed away that I came up with this challenge.  I was extremely grateful for what Florance Nightingale had done for us all, and I had not that long ago (it felt like a lifetime ago though) ran London Marathon.

There are loads of people who do back to back Marathons these
days.  And there are people who do a lot more than what I want to try (
not that that makes me think it will be any easier). But what I have noticed is that people always seem to go from one place to another.  

What if I did something like run 5 Marathons, back to back over 5 days but in 1 community? Aylesbury? 

Would I be able to persuade people to come and join me? Could I inspire people to set their own goal? Could I ask people to get their own friends and family to support THEM in THEIR own challenge and could THEY raise their own bit of sponsorship for this FANTASTIC LOCAL cause?

Can't run? why not get out there and see if you can jog a mile by October? Ever thought about doing a 5km but havent had the support? well here's your chance.  Accomplished that 5k and feel you could put that work in and come run a 10km with me? Do it! Please!!!

I will be setting up 5, very short loops around Aylesbury for me to run around between the 1st and the 5th October 2019.  

Each day I will run that course enough times so that I complete a Marathon; 26.2 miles.  The course is between 1-2 miles long and will be based around 5 main roads of Aylesbury.

I'll be out there for a good few hours per race and I want YOU ALL to come and run with me.  Tell me your story, let me know how far you are going to run with me and if you've managed to raise any money for Florence Nightingale then all the better!

Together I think OUR community can come together and raise some much needed money for this great cause.

I'll be posting updates more and more as we get closer and closer to the event.  

But please, set yourself a goal, no matter how big or small, then come out there with me and lets try and do something special.