Hi Everyone,

Andrew and I will be running the Athens Marathon in November.  We are both members of Amnesty International, and are raising money to further their work for human rights. 

I completed the Paris marathon in April.  It was a wonderful occasion; my French is close to non-existent, and yet it was no barrier to building bonds of camaraderie with fellow runners, or appreciating the applause - and especially the drinks - of the people lining the route.  What really struck me was that all those people turned out just to watch people run past them: they watched ordinary, sweaty people, running slowly, for hours, just proud of the achievement of total strangers.  It’s great to see there’s so much goodwill in the world. 

It was hard work: I’d had a niggling knee injury throughout my training, and on the day, by 30km (19 miles in old money) it was so inflamed that I had to limp the final 12km, with a grimaced run across the line for the cameras.

The knee’s now 100%, so this time I’m off to Athens, running the historical route of the legendary marathon in 490bc, when the Athenians fought to defend the world’s first democracy.  Hopefully I won’t be repeating the result: after delivering news of the Athenian victory the messenger who ran the 26 miles dropped down dead!

I have kind of press-ganged Andrew into it.  His last long distance run was the 13 mile Great North Run as a fresh-faced teenager way back in 1987.  After declining fitness through his 20s and 30s, recovering from a broken arm sustained in jiu jitsu, and with us both turning 40 next year, I suggested he run the iconic race with me.  Always one for a challenge, Andrew has now built up to 19 miles (in one go – that’s not his total training mileage!)  He is still not fully confident of avoiding his historical predecessor’s fate...

Many of you may not know that I try to help with Amnesty International campaigns, lobbying by letter and e-mail, and writing to prisoners of conscience so they – and their captors – know that someone still cares about them.  I try to avoid being self-righteousness, so I don't normally tell people about it.  I wouldn’t now, except it would stretch trust rather too far if I said, ‘Can you give me some money for, erm, something...’

Just one of the current cases is of Ebrima Manneh, a journalist from the Gambia who worked for the pro-democracy newspaper, the Daily Observer.  He was arrested without any process of law for trying to publish an article critical of the Gambian government, which he had downloaded from the BBC website.  His location is not known to his family, for whom he was the main earner.  Information about his case can be found at the Amnesty site here: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions_details.asp?ActionID=535

So if you are able to, please pledge a little cash; if you’re skint, please send a letter to help Ebrima Manneh (see the Amnesty page).   

The money goes towards all of Amnesty’s campaigning work; there are a few good videos here:

The Bullet (1 min 34 secs)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw_a4iutD1Q

Domestic Violence (2 min 3sec)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTUNaCT5R6I&feature=related

John Hurt (2min 55 sec)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcrToyMDCkI&feature=channel

Sometimes when you hear the details of the oppression it’s easy to feel powerless.  I want to share quote from Robert Kennedy, made in 1966 in Cape Town, about Apartheid and the Civil Rights movement. 

“Few will have the greatness to bend history; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation ... It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is thus shaped.  Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centres of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."