Hello and thanks for visiting my JustGiving page.

In July 2011, I was diagnosed with a Carcinoid Tumour, a form of cancer situated within my appendix. This was removed and in November 2011 I underwent a second round of surgery to remove the surrounding area of bowel in case the cancer had spread.

Fortunately, in December, I was given a clear histology and told that there were no longer any signs of cancerous cells in my bowels.

I'm one of the lucky ones - after an early diagnosis and 2 rounds of surgery I can now get back to a normal life. There's many people who receive a similar diagnosis where the cancer has already spread too far and are unable to be cured through surgery. For these people, Bowel Cancer UK provides a fantastic comfort with free advice and care. Having suffered this disease and survived, I want to help those who may not be as lucky as I was.

Those who know me will know that I am not blessed with a particularly athletic physique and my love of beer and fine food makes that even more difficult. But I want to challenge myself.

Having been brought up in Newcastle, the Great North Run is something I have always wanted to do but never had the motivation to follow through with. Having been through what I have over the past year has given me the get-up-and-go to finally do this in my 30th year of life. Who says life ends at 30??

To everyone I have sponsored in the past, those I havent, to people I know directly or through a friend, to colleagues, ex colleagues, former classmates, people I've met on my travels and some I've never met - I ask that you sponsor me as much as you can to complete this mammoth challenge. Your money will be going to a great cause and will help the victims of bowel cancer and their families through a very challenging time in their lives.

From the very bottom of my heart - THANK YOU!

 

31st January 2012

After 2 rounds of surgery, the latest being just 10 weeks ago, having been sat on my backside during that time, partaking in very little excersize and gorging myself on countless mince pies and other Christmas goodies, I began training for my Great North Run Challenge today. OWCH!!!

I am following a 'Couch  to 5k' programme I have found in the App Store just to get me started and today I had 8 x 1 minute runs interspersed with 1 and a half minutes of brisk walking.

Having not seen the inside of  a gym since July I really felt in in my legs but managed to complete it in the given time without stopping or gagging for breath. This evening my quads are in agony and tackling stairs is going to hurt but I've taken the first step.

 

 

26th February 2012

So, I've been going nearly a month now and have managed to increase my running time from 1 minute to 5 minutes at a time. I know it doesn't sound like a lot but when you've spent much of the previous few months on your backside, it certainly feels like progress!

A huge thank you to those that have sponsored me already. It seems like each time I think about putting off a run or doubting my ability to complete the challenge I get an email from JustGiving telling me that a new donation has been made. It's a phenomenal response to have hit 24% of my target within a month when I still have over 6 months until the event. At this rate I should exceed my target but every pound helps - not just for Bowel Cancer UK but for my own motivation. Please, if you haven't already donated, do give what you can and ask any friends or family to do the same.

 

Your generosity is greatly appreciated!

 

 

29th April 2012

Well, it's been two months since I last updated  this page and a lot has happened. I had two weeks off from training  - one due to illness and another due to holiday. The good news is - other than that I have been out running 3 times a week and have now completed the first stage of my training programme. That means I can now run for 30 minutes at a time without stopping. That's 25 minutes more than the last time I wrote. 

 

It's only 5 months since I underwent my last bout of surgery but for the first time in a long time i'm feeling good - fit and healthy and with the impending arrival of our first child, the next few months are looking good. I've also started a new job so it really has been all go!

On the fund-raising side, I have to admit that I have been absolutely humbled. My target was £1,500 and I smashed through that figure with over 5 months to go until the event - so I increased my target figure to £2012 (well it is a big year for sports!). As I write, I have raised over £1800, 90% of that revised target. I cannot tell you how grateful I am to each and every one of the 60 people who have sponsored me so far. Every pound makes the difference and on those cold, rainy days (we have a lot of the) when I'm looking out the window, debating with myself wether to head out and run, it is that immense figure that makes me get my trainers on and hit the road. Thank you all so so much - I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.

And so, stage two of my training begins - I hope to start doing some longer runs in the next few weeks and will, of course, update you with my progress as I get closer to the event in September.

On a final note, April is Bowel Cancer Awareness month. Bowel Cancer is one of the most cureable forms of cancer - if caught early. If you have any symptoms please, please, please, get own to your GP. For more information on the symptoms, vist the Bowel Cancer Uk site at www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk.

 

28th May 2012

Hello, thought I'd give you all a quick update on my progress and it's good news on all fronts.

This weekend, Becca and I were up in Newcastle visiting my family and I took the opportunity to take in the beautiful, fresh Tyneside air at 7am on Saturday morning. Up till this point, my longest run had been 40 minutes but on Saturday I did 2 runs - one 40 minute run followed by a brisk 5 minute walk and then a further 15 minute run. Thats 55 minutes in total! But wait, it gets even better - during that 55 minutes I covered about 7 miles meaning that I had run half the distance of my target for September! And all that before breakfast!

My fundraising is going great guns too - I burst through my second target of £2012 a few weeks ago and the total continues to rise. I have decided against setting a new target and will now just try and raise as much money as I can for my chosen charity, Bowel Cancer UK. Over the last few months I have come to know more about Bowel Cancer UK, and its staff and am consistently impressed with what a fantastic organisation it is - I can't wait to hand over all this money to them in September knowing that it will be going towards both saving lives and improving life for those suffering from Bowel Cancer.

The third piece of good news is that, despite all this training I am seeing no real effects of my surgery (just 6 months ago) and am feeling fitter and healthier with every run I complete. Thank you all for giving me the motivation and support to re-build my health.

Donations are still gratefully received up to - and after - the Great North Run on September 16th. GO TEAM STERN!

 

27th July 2012

Its been a couple of months now since I last updated this page and the BIG news is that just 7 months after my surgery I became a proud father.

Ethan William Stern was born on 29th June and as you can imagine, sleepless nights, feeding and nappy changing have had a major impact on my training schedule. In fact, I've only run once in the last month. However, with 7 weeks still to go until the Great North Run, I am confident that I can catch up and will be ready to go come 16th September.

The money continues to roll in and I am constantly humbled by the donations people are making to my running fund. Yesterday I broke the £3,000 mark – double my initial fundraising target of £1,500. This is such an incredible achievement and I am grateful to each and every one of my sponsors.

There is still time to donate and over the next 7 weeks new donations will be crucial to my motivation in getting up at 5am to run before work, having put up with a screaming baby for much of the night.

My running vest has now arrived in 'Bowel Cancer UK Green' - not really my colour but hey-ho, I'm not really an athlete! This is the final push and I really need everyone's help to get over that finish line. COME ON!

 

2nd September 2012

Today, for the first time in my entire life I ran for 11 miles without stopping (except briefly whilst waiting to cross a road). This was my last long training run before I complete the Great North Run in 2 weeks. That right, I said complete. I am so determined to cross that finish line and with the confidence of what I have acheived so far, together with the support of my 98 donors, I KNOW I can do it. In fact, I'm really looking forward to it. I still have a few shorter training runs to go and a final medium-distance (7 miles) run next weekend but things are looking good. I won't lie, with a screaming baby and severe sleep deprivation, it hasn't been easy and I am looking forward to the time where, having gotten up at 5am on a Sunday morning to attend to Ethan, I can go back to bed rather than don my hi-vis top and head out for a run - but I feel so enriched by the experience so far, the main event will be amazing, I can feel it. As things stand, I'm just £118 away from raising £3500 - an amount I never even dreamed of when I started this journey. All the time, I am meeting people thorugh my social networks who have also been through Bowel Cancer episodes, most worse than me and I am just glad that I can make a difference. 

 

17th September 2012

I've done it! Less than 10 months after major surgery, I've completed my first ever half marathon. It feels great and i'm so happy. It realy feels like this is the perfect ending to this chapter in my life and I am now ready to get on and look to new things.

 

I really enjoyed the run. I had to wait an hour in the rain just to get to the start line and once I started I had to try really hard to ensure I didn't set off al guns blazing and knacker myself out straight away. The people in Newcast are reknowned for their friendliness and they lined the 13.1 mile route from start to finish. The first 3 miles was great. It was familiar territotry to me (having lived here until the age of 13) and included the highlight of running over the Tyne Bridge.

 

After that, there was a 2 mile incline for which I slowed slightly but the sight of a man running for his Dad who had died just 2 days previously gave me real strength. All 55,000 people running in this race have a story and it is such a demonstration of human spirit which truly warms the heart. After a nice downhill stretch, miles 8-11 saw more hills but again, the gerodie public lining the route, cheering me on by name and handing out everything from sweets to chips helped me through it. 

 

At mile 11, I began to feel real pain in my left knee - this was just as I was approaching one of the steepest parts of the course. I managed to continue running as I knew that if I began to walk I wouldn't get my stride back. And I powered on through the pain until at about 12 miles I hit the steepest part of the course where, at the top you are faced with a steep decline at the bottom of which is a sign saying 'Last Mile - Turn Left'. Once you hit the bottom and turn left you're on the home straight. I knew I still had a good chance of getting the time I wanted so I sped up, put my knee pain to the back of my mind and went for it - pushing aside various other participants I went as fast as I could and dragged myself over the finish line. 

 

My total time was 2hrs 25minutes and 39 seconds. It is more than I ever could have hoped for. I said I'd be happy with 3 hours and delighted with 2 and a half hours so to beat that by another 5 minutes is amazing. I picked up my medal and met Becca at which point it all just hit me, what I have acheived here and that my journey through some of the darkest depths I can imagine had finally come to a stirring end. I am so proud of myself.

 

However, I couldn't have done it on my own! I have been truly humbled by the amount of support I have received from family, friends and complete strangers and as things stand, I have raised just shy of £4000 for Bowel Cancer UK. My initial target when I started was £1500 so to more than double that is amazing and I want to thanks EVERYONE who has sponsored me.

 

There are some notable exceptions though and people I would llike to mention, those who have really gone the extra mile to support me. Firstly, my former colleagues at A&N media who gave so generously to my leaving collection which was donated towards my running fund. Even more so to former A&N colleague James Hagan who, when he left the company donated his own leaving fund to my cause. People like James Hagan are hard to find. Thanks to York City South secretary Dot Goodearl who has championed my cause in numerous e-newsletters and club programmes which has helped to increase my total. One special donor sponsored me £500 - amazing generosity. Toby and Natalie Harris, thanks for the 'running essential kit' you sent me before the race - it all came in use! Former school friend and runner Shona Wood who has mentored me through my training phase and always given good advice. And of course, I have had the best support team anyone could ever ask for in the form of Rebecca and Ethan Stern. No man could ask for more from a family and I have been truly blessed!

 

So that's it for this chapter - time to go and see what challenge I want to take on next. Thanks all and here's to good health!