Hi all,

Some of you may or may not know that last year (in a moment of madness - and no I wasn't drunk!), I signed up to run in the Brentwood Half Marathon on 23 March 2014.

For those of you who have just passed out with shock, pick yourselves up and read on.  This is something that I have never done before and would never have dreamt of doing, however driven by the will to set myself a new goal to push myself mentally & physically and more importantly inspired by the story of a little girl called Lily, I took a big step and have committed to months of training to hopefully run over 13 miles.

With over 200 other likeminded people from Essex, I will be taking part with a group called Lily’s Legends.

Lily was diagnosed with neuroblastoma when she was 20months old in August 2013. It is a rare, aggressive type of cancer, affecting only 100 children a year in the UK and early detection is paramount to successful treatment. Symptoms are similar to many common childhood illnesses which means it is often misdiagnosed. 

The sad news is that since Lily had surgery in January to remove the tumour,  they found that it has now spread and she will have to undergo 3 lots of chemotherapy.

By running the marathon we are hoping to raise awareness of this awful disease. If we can enable just one parent to catch it early & save their child's life, then something good can come out of everything little Lily and her family have endured. 

Any donations you can give to this very worthy cause would be much appreciated.  It would also help and inspire me during my training to know that you are supporting me, not just by giving money but your encouragement too.

My aim is to run the majority of the course however due to my love of gin, cake, a harmless addition to Haribo, my asthmaticness &  general fitness level - there will most likely be some intermittent bouts of jogging, skipping, walking, limping, crying, crawling, vomiting, asthmatic wheezing, more crying and quite possibly some delirious Riverdancing throughout and most definitely at the finish line.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank not only yourselves for your perseverance on reading this far but also a big thanks goes to my sports bras for not giving up on me - just yet!

Thanks again,

Amanda x