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With Summer 2013 beckoning, I made the decision last May to get fit and lose weight.   All sounded like a good plan …. a little bit of running in between tennis and a weekly office weigh-in (nowhere to hide)  – it would be a breeze.  Well June arrived and unfortunately with both commitment and weight loss waning…… I realised I needed to gain momentum and rather rashly made the decision to aim for a target goal … nothing too short term – 2014 should do it!

Before I really appreciated what I had done, I had taken the decision to join my schoolfriend Jayne in her local half marathon – Cambridge on 9 March 2014.    There was the possibility that I would not gain a place as I am not a ‘local’ but somehow with Jayne’s encouragement and a quick turnaround of the application form, it was confirmed in September that I had my place….. no turning back now!

I would say that the training (and let’s get this into perspective it is only a half marathon and not a full marathon) has been arduous – much harder than I expected and it was the catalyst for my joining SEFitness in Sutton Coldfield (www.sefitness.com).   Leaders and runners have been so encouraging and I now very much enjoy 2 -3 sessions each week with the Club, as well as lunchtime running with great support from colleagues and friends at St Jude Medical.   In May, I could barely run 3 miles without stopping for a ‘rest’(!) yet now I am obsessed with pace/time and have the added bonus and goal achieved of a 3 stone weight loss – how things have changed!

I am now 12 days away from the ‘big day’ having just completed a 12 mile training run – maybe I can do this after all!  The 2014 event aims to raise money for Cancer Research UK – we all know someone who has been touched by this challenging disease and working for a global company which invests heavily in its research and development – I see the benefit on another level with new technology and investment resulting in improved patient outcome.  

From a personal perspective, my Mother had treatment for cancer and it mattered to me that she had the best care and treatment available to her.  More recently, two close friends have experienced this complex disease …. raising money for such a worthwhile cause is therefore the very least I can do and hopefully make a little difference.  

Jaynie   - good luck in your race and thanks for your support! 

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