Why am I running?            (hit Read More below for updates)

My mate Sanjay has been asking me to do the Great North Run with him for a few years and this year I applied and got in via the general ballot. I was very pleased to discover that this year's nominated charity is the Alzheimers Society as this is something very close to my heart.

My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimers a few years ago and our family have seen the massive deterioration in her ability to perform simple tasks over time to the point where she can't speak coherently any more. For me, seeing my mother and other dementia sufferers, it brings home the fragility of life and makes you take stock of the things we take for granted.

I've promised to try and drag myself and Sanjay around the course as we want to break the 2 hour barrier. For those of you who live under a rock, the Great North Run is a half-marathon (13.1 miles) from Gateshead to South Shields.

I want to smash the £1,000 barrier, so please be generous and I'll make sure we're under 2 hours!

Thank you for your support!

Update 06/06/2010

Ran the Coventry Half Marathon as part of the training plan a couple of weeks ago. It was on that stupidly hot weekend at the end of May and it was BRUTAL!

Managed to drag myself around in 2 hours and 18 minutes and more importantly avoided a visit to the paramedics!

Update 18/09/2010

Ok, it's the night before the race and I'm in Gateshead. Training hasn't gone at all to plan due to various injuries and family issues, so less than 2 hours is a distant dream.

I still hope to do the run in less than 2 hours 10 minutes and according to the weather forecast it shouldn't be too hot so I have a good chance.

Thanks to everyone who has donated and all of you who have every intention of pressing the donate button :)

 

Update 20/09/2010

Didn't go too badly, despite my lack of training, I managed 2:15:30 in the end. I was on track for a good time after 30 minutes, but the heat and humidity (very muggy with no breeze) got to me in the second half of the race.

Sanjay did brilliantly and manged to finish in 2:08 so we were all pretty happy.

Thanks again to everyone who's donated.