So, who thought they'd ever see the day that Riches runs a marathon? I for one was waiting for hell to freeze over before I would consider it. This is mainly because few short years ago I couldn't run a bath, let alone run 26.2 miles. I hadn't done any exercise since the misery of PE class, and my waistline was starting to show it. About this time I decided enough was enough and I joined the gym. I hadn't intended on doing much running - the school memories of  winter cross-country while dodging polar bears was still all too painful! However, the treadmill proved to be godsend - I got fit while staying warm, dry and watching The One Show all at the same time. It turned out running was addictive, and I got good at it quickly. I finished my first road race (Bristol 10k) in 2011 and I went on to complete a half-marathon by the end of the year, albeit slowly and painfully. Immediately after that I vowed never to try to run that far ever again, it was just too much suffering for a man to take. Since then, true to my word, I've run one or two half-marathons each and every year, the last one being the 2013 Bristol Half Marathon in October which I finished in 1:43...

In all the races I've run, all the pain and woe I've put myself through, and all the achievements I've made, I've never raised a single penny for charity. In 2013 I made the decision that I wanted to finish a marathon. Just the one, for bragging rights, and to make up the deficit in funds I could have raised for charity. I also decided that if I was going to run just one marathon in my life, there could be none better than in The Big Smoke.

I didn't apply for the London Marathon through the ballot, and I only applied to one charity that I wanted to raise money for. Heart disease is the biggest killer in the world, causing an estimated 17 million deaths each year worldwide. To put that in perspective, that's 1 in every 400 people each year, or the entire population of the worlds most populous city Shanghai every year.

Heart Research UK has kindly offered me a place to run the London Marathon on behalf of their charity, in return for raising my minimum pledge of £1750. They are a small UK based charity that leads the way funding ground breaking, innovative medical research projects at the cutting edge of science into the prevention, treatment and cure of heart disease. The money I raise will go directly to developing pioneering new treatments that could save many lives. Additionally, I hope completing a marathon will encourage others to start running, or to maintain a healthy through other activities.

So that's it! On Sunday April 13th I'll be attempting to complete a 26.2 mile dash starting in GreenwichPark and ending at The Mall. It will likely be one of the hardest things I’ll ever do in my lifetime. And I have an optimistic target that I would like to finish in 4 hours or less, but in all honesty I'd just like to complete it. 

 

So if you want to donate to an excellent cause; or if you'd rather just gamble that Riches can't actually run a marathon, please sponsor me generously!

Thank you all!

James

 

http://www.virginmoneylondonmarathon.com/