1825 km!
gemma tierney is raising money for Cardiac Risk in the Young
Story
THE STORY
4th March 2013 was the day my life changed. My boyfriend of 6 years died: suddenly, far too young and without any warning. His heart stopped in his sleep. The cause of death for my healthy 29 year old man was heart failure. My entire world collapsed.
The grief was all consuming, deep, dull and agonising and effected every single part of my physical and emotional self. I will never find a way to articulate those dark days and still find it difficult to even allow myself to think about them now.
But life has a funny way of just going on. And, even though I had no idea that I was doing it, I went on too. And then one day I woke up and realised that I actually wasn't doing too bad. And the more time passed, the more I learned to live. Now, nearly two years have passed. And, without really knowing how, I am happy, healthy and in love with my life. But one tiny piece is left undone.
My desire to do 'something' has been strong from the very start: I just never quite knew how, where or when. My state of my mind was always too fragile and my physicality was always too weak. But I always knew two things: I wanted to do something physically demanding and gruelling and I wanted to raise money for C-R-Y.
C-R-Y is Cardiac Risk in the Young, a wonderful charity who put all of their money into research and support. I don't know what I would have done without C-R-Y, and know that if they continue to grow as a charity, they will help to save many young lives.
On 3rd January my friend Mark put up a post from another charity on Facebook. I blatantly stole the idea and asked Mark to join me for my cause.
So here we are: every single day from 4th March 2015 until 4th March 2016 we will run at least 3 miles a day. It will be difficult, it will be gruelling and it will be worthwhile.
No matter how difficult it is, I can still do it, because I am alive. And that is something that I never take for granted. And I can still do it because I am stronger than I've ever been. And that is a wonderful bi-product of a terrible situation. And most of all I can do it because Iain will be there, looking over my shoulder, spurring me on, with me always even we can't see him, and that is what this is all about.
THE LOGISTICS
Every single day starting on 4th March 2015 Mark and I will run at least 3 miles. We can do this as, when and where we wish, so long as we actually do it. We will be using apps to track each other's progress and prove we're not skiving!
Any particularly challenging, monumental or special runs will be recorded in our blogs: https://movingonupnow.wordpress.com/. This might be a photo of the view where we were running or a story about something that made us get up and do it that day.
On the first Sunday of the month, Mark and I will run somewhere a bit different together... And then spend the rest of the day in the pub with our favourite people undoing our hard work!
IF for any reason we COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY can't run one day we have to find someone who will run on our behalf, and pay £20 to our own just giving page for the privilege of the rest!
We can also combine days, so that if, for example, we were away for the weekend and took two days off, on our next running day we'd run three days worth.
WE NEED YOU...
Okay, this is where you lovely people come in. We need you to do a number of things:
1) Support us. Even as I write this I am wondering if I can do it. It's a big challenge and we have no chance of completing it if we don't have our nearest and dearest on hand encouraging, congratulating and willing us to succeed.
2) Join us. Any day that you feel like a run, give one or both of us a call. Exercise is more fun as a group, so get involved. If running isn't your thing, remember that we'll be boozing on the first Sunday of the month. The more people who join us for that, the better. Let's make this a celebration!
3) Be positive. Yes, we're doing this on the back of a tragic, awful event in my life. And yes, doing this will inevitably result in a lot of people asking about what happened, and how I feel. And yes, there will be times that doing this will bring back memories for me. BUT the last thing we want is for this to become an emotional, sad event. I keep visualising a bunch of us in the great outdoors, or a cosy pub, laughing, smiling and reminiscing. What better way to raise money and honour someone could there be than that?
4) Sponsor us! Please! C-R-Y is unfairly unknown and underfunded. Let's change that!!!
4th March 2013 was the day my life changed. My boyfriend of 6 years died: suddenly, far too young and without any warning. His heart stopped in his sleep. The cause of death for my healthy 29 year old man was heart failure. My entire world collapsed.
The grief was all consuming, deep, dull and agonising and effected every single part of my physical and emotional self. I will never find a way to articulate those dark days and still find it difficult to even allow myself to think about them now.
But life has a funny way of just going on. And, even though I had no idea that I was doing it, I went on too. And then one day I woke up and realised that I actually wasn't doing too bad. And the more time passed, the more I learned to live. Now, nearly two years have passed. And, without really knowing how, I am happy, healthy and in love with my life. But one tiny piece is left undone.
My desire to do 'something' has been strong from the very start: I just never quite knew how, where or when. My state of my mind was always too fragile and my physicality was always too weak. But I always knew two things: I wanted to do something physically demanding and gruelling and I wanted to raise money for C-R-Y.
C-R-Y is Cardiac Risk in the Young, a wonderful charity who put all of their money into research and support. I don't know what I would have done without C-R-Y, and know that if they continue to grow as a charity, they will help to save many young lives.
On 3rd January my friend Mark put up a post from another charity on Facebook. I blatantly stole the idea and asked Mark to join me for my cause.
So here we are: every single day from 4th March 2015 until 4th March 2016 we will run at least 3 miles a day. It will be difficult, it will be gruelling and it will be worthwhile.
No matter how difficult it is, I can still do it, because I am alive. And that is something that I never take for granted. And I can still do it because I am stronger than I've ever been. And that is a wonderful bi-product of a terrible situation. And most of all I can do it because Iain will be there, looking over my shoulder, spurring me on, with me always even we can't see him, and that is what this is all about.
THE LOGISTICS
Every single day starting on 4th March 2015 Mark and I will run at least 3 miles. We can do this as, when and where we wish, so long as we actually do it. We will be using apps to track each other's progress and prove we're not skiving!
Any particularly challenging, monumental or special runs will be recorded in our blogs: https://movingonupnow.wordpress.com/. This might be a photo of the view where we were running or a story about something that made us get up and do it that day.
On the first Sunday of the month, Mark and I will run somewhere a bit different together... And then spend the rest of the day in the pub with our favourite people undoing our hard work!
IF for any reason we COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY can't run one day we have to find someone who will run on our behalf, and pay £20 to our own just giving page for the privilege of the rest!
We can also combine days, so that if, for example, we were away for the weekend and took two days off, on our next running day we'd run three days worth.
WE NEED YOU...
Okay, this is where you lovely people come in. We need you to do a number of things:
1) Support us. Even as I write this I am wondering if I can do it. It's a big challenge and we have no chance of completing it if we don't have our nearest and dearest on hand encouraging, congratulating and willing us to succeed.
2) Join us. Any day that you feel like a run, give one or both of us a call. Exercise is more fun as a group, so get involved. If running isn't your thing, remember that we'll be boozing on the first Sunday of the month. The more people who join us for that, the better. Let's make this a celebration!
3) Be positive. Yes, we're doing this on the back of a tragic, awful event in my life. And yes, doing this will inevitably result in a lot of people asking about what happened, and how I feel. And yes, there will be times that doing this will bring back memories for me. BUT the last thing we want is for this to become an emotional, sad event. I keep visualising a bunch of us in the great outdoors, or a cosy pub, laughing, smiling and reminiscing. What better way to raise money and honour someone could there be than that?
4) Sponsor us! Please! C-R-Y is unfairly unknown and underfunded. Let's change that!!!