Ten years ago I ran the London Marathon.

I know, it was a surprise to me too.

The incredible feeling of overcoming a huge, personal challenge, cheered on by family, friends and the people of London, coupled with the necessity to eat enormous amounts of food, just about outweighed the tremendous pain.  It must have done, because for some reason I did it all over again the following year.

After that, though, I was out.  My marathon career was over.  I still ran, a bit, but my days of 26.2 mile efforts were behind me. 

Every few years, though, nostalgia or blind stupidity or something got the better of me and I rashly submitted an application to the London Marathon ballot.  I could never properly hide my relief, however, when the letter arrived in October to say that I had not got in.

This year, realising that I am nearing the end of my fourth decade on the planet and surely only a hop and a skip away from a midlife crisis, I put my entry in again.  And this year there was no relief.  Only fear.  I have been accepted to take part in the 2017 London Marathon.

Since this is unlikely to ever happen again, I have decided to take the opportunity to raise some money for a very special project which I have the privilege of working on at Nottingham Hospitals Charity: Zephyr’s.

Zephyr’s is a project to develop a better place at Nottingham’s hospitals to support families who have suffered pregnancy loss, or the death of a baby or child.  Rather than having to return to the wards & clinical areas of hospital where their babies and children died, the vision of Carly and Martin – who set up the project in memory of their son, Zephyr – is that families will instead be offered counselling, follow-up meetings, and an opportunity to meet others like them, in a more gentle and homely space.  Thanks to generous donors and fundraisers, the first stage of the project is underway – and an interim space, in a refurbished flat on the grounds of City Hospital, will soon open.  Stage two - once we have raised the funds - is to create a beautiful, purpose-built centre on the hospital grounds, made of natural materials, light and love.

Please do make a donation if you can.  It’s a really great, much needed project.

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