As you will no doubt be aware, I am NOT a runner!!!  The furthest I have run is 5K in the Race for Life events!!  Therefore I surprised myself when I decided to sign-up for the Oxford half marathon on 13 October; to be honest I think I am still in denial!  Well ….. I say surprised, however part of my decision came to me quite easily in a way, as one of my close friends is going through chemotherapy, yet she has found the determination to run the half marathon at the tail end of her treatment for a charity she is passionate about (CoppaFeel) and I thought that if she can do it when her body and mind are going through so much, then surely why am I even thinking twice.  My friend was therefore my inspiration!! 

My thoughts about doing the run were solidified by the fact that a wonderful, dear, funny, strong, amazingly beautiful person sadly lost her battle with the big horrible C earlier this year and (not that she would consider running a half marathon) she no longer has the choice or opportunity to run it even if she wanted to.  She can no longer experience new things, see the sun shining, see her family and friends grow up and old, and it became sooooooo clear to me that I wanted to do this for her!  I know she’ll be looking down on me and thinking I’m a crazy fool, I can already imagine her motivational cheeky comments, which I am hopeful will spur me on and get me round safely and over the finish line.      

It will not be a surprise therefore, that I am running for Sobell House, a fantastic charity who provide end of life care and support to patients and their family and friends, including helping families and friends adapt to life after they have lost a loved one.  They are involved in education, training and research and provide many other invaluable services.  Clearly no-one really wants to find themselves needing to use their services, as this will mean you, or someone very close to you, is on a difficult journey.  However life can be very cruel and the reality is that a lot of lovely people find themselves being supported by Sobell House, and when they do, Sobell House are with them every step of the way.

The way I see it, is that the amount of time and effort it is taking out of my life to train, all the pains and aches that my body shares with me after a run (and the days after), the weather that can be kind or not so …… is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING compared to the pain, grief, suffering, life changing effects that I see in the faces of some of my closest, most beautiful, dearest friends and their families (I love you all dearly!).  Doing this also comes nowhere near to the confusion, denial and torment that roams my mind every single day! 

The training will continue to be hard and the race will be too ……………. however if me doing this raises awareness of the services provided by Sobell House (and the charity CoppaFeel that my friend is supporting) and can raise some pennies to help them continue their great work, it will be completely worthwhile.   

After my training runs, I tend to get some milk and water down my neck (not in the same glass!), however on race day I will have a LARGE glass of barefoot zinfandel (and maybe I should have some water too) waiting for me at the end!!!