To those of you that know me well you will understand why I am running this Half Marathon for The  charity Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM)  for those of you that perhaps don’t, my world and my family’s world was totally thrown into turmoil on 22^nd September 2016 when the alarm was raised that no one had heard from and could not get hold of my lovely brother Jeff.  My brother was found dead at his flat and had taken his own life!!

I honestly can’t begin to tell you how many emotions you go through, SHOCK I think is the biggest emotion, DISBELIEF, PAIN, could I have prevented it, GUILT, DESPAIR, ANGER and so much SADNESS and that’s just in one day and every day !! and was sadly to be my life for a very long time to come.  I honestly think I eventually ran out of tears!!

I started running again in July 2017 after having a partial knee replacement in 2014. It was time now to get back to it. I really needed
something to focus my mind and energy on and decided after my first run that I would run a half marathon in memory of Jeff as that would keep me getting my kit on, getting out the door, putting one foot in front of the other and help to keep me motivated and raise money for a charity now close to my heart.

I was unfortunately to meet a few unexpected obstacles along
the way and was plagued by injury after injury  and having healed from my last serious injury, 2 stress fractures and a crack on my tibia (don’t do things by halves)  I started training again in July last year taking it all slow and easy and building up my base fitness to run my first half marathon.

As those that have been unfortunate to witness me running, let’s just say I’m not a natural born runner lol. It certainly doesn’t come easy to me and hasn’t been an easy journey for me so far!! As well as the physical fitness it is very much a mental sport. It’s going to be hard on the day, mentally, physically and emotionally. I know it’s not going to be a walk in the park for me but I’m determined to finish the distance in memory of my lovely brother Jeff.

As the Pandemic hit and Lockdown went into place, my training suffered as i couldn't keep up the distance training as the guideline was 1 hour of exercise and tbh i didn't want to be out running for 2 and more hours so training was extremely difficult both mentally and physically and then mid April i picked up a knee injury.  The Saxon Shore Half Marathon was postponed until the end of August and has now been postponed again but having only just started running again i had the option to defer by the organiser, so i will now be completing the Saxon Shore in memory of my lovely brother Jeff 13th June 2021.

Thanks you for all my donations and for all your support.

CALM is now a Nationwide charity and the bulk of its

money is from its supporters like myself.

Until 2011 it was aimed at men aged between 15 to 35 but was
becoming clear that the volume of callers over 35 was growing and that suicide in older men was increasing and CALM reflected this in 2012. 

CALM also is not just for men, anyone needing support can
call the Helpline 0800 585858

In a world where you can be anything – be generous lol just kidding. Any sponsorship no matter how small I will be so grateful and thankful for. If I can raise just enough money that can save one family from going through the heartbreak that we have it would have been worth the hard slog of 13.1 Miles

Thank you for taking the time to read this

Linda xx