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I am running the marathon to raise money and awareness for Myeloma , www.myeloma.org.uk. In addition to this, I am running the Southbourne 10K and Bournemouth Bay Half Marathon, in early, and late March respectively.

Multiple myeloma (also known as myeloma or plasma cell myeloma) is a progressive blood disease. It is a cancer of the plasma cell, an important part of the immune system that produces immunoglobulins (antibodies) to help fight infection and disease.

At the end of January, my partner's dad was diagnosed with Myeloma.  is a keen marathon runner and last year, set a new club record for Erme Valley Harriers in the Edinburgh Marathon. We did the 6 Moor Miles race together in 2008 and since then, despite attempting to co-ordinate for some races, have never managed to do another race together.

Barrie has been told he will probably not be able to run competitively again, so for me, running the marathon in which he set a club record of just over 3 hours 30 min’s, whilst unknown to him suffering from the early stages of cancer, is very fitting and it will feel like he is chasing me all the way!  

I aim to complete the marathon in a similar time so I will need all the motivation I can get, the more money that is sponsored, the more driven I will be to push myself to the limit!

The minimum sponsorship I need for the marathon is £500 but I really do feel like this is the minimum; I would love to raise an amount closer to the £1000 mark, or even more!

Until last week, I knew very little about Myeloma, it is a rather rare condition, with only about 3700 people being diagnosed each year, generally older men. Treatment is still being widely researched and new medicines/formulas of medicines are being discovered all of the time. 

Myeloma is a superb charity that works closely with patients, researchers and doctors. Their aim is to raise awareness of the condition, as this is the main delay in diagnosing Myeloma. Even many doctors are unaware of the condition, a problem that has been encountered by many patients.

Even when Myeloma has been diagnosed, there is a lack of understanding about the condition and the best ways to treat it. Poor government funding means that not enough research is carried out into the possible treatments and the researching of how and why Myeloma occurs.

I want to raise as much money as possible to help Myeloma UK carry out all of the things they aim to achieve and to help other people, like Barrie, as the earlier the disease is diagnosed, the easier it is to treat patients. Myeloma ’s goals are on the following link… http://www.myeloma.org.uk/Page.aspx?pid=1239

Thank you so much to everyone for all your support both financially and personally, I will need as much help as I can get over the next 16 weeks ! The generosity of everyone is quite overwhelming, especially in the current financial climate, so I would like to say a big thank you to everyone from Barrie and his family, Myeloma and myself. 25/01/2010

I will keep everyone updated on how is doing, and how the training is going over the next few months!

Thanks again

* 3/2/10 *

The total has reached £225 since the 25^th of January! That is a staggering amount as there are still 16 weeks to go before the marathon! Thank you so much to everyone who has donated so far, it is greatly appreciated!

**Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.**