Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Last year my dad (Brian) passed away shortly after being diagnosed with cancer and after having been ill for the previous 12 months. For most of his life he been active and his life revolved around sport (as well as the family!). His main passions were football & cricket although in later years he also got involved with bowls. He played football &  cricket for many years locally in Shropshire, he was a steward at Shrewsbury Town Football Club before just becoming a fan in later years although had soft spots for Telford & Burnley as was born in Wellington and had family connections in Burnley. In later years he became heavily involved in administration of football, cricket and bowls and was a well respected figure for the work he did, even if mum didn't see a huge amount of him due to all of his meetings! 

Although he had been ill, his passing happened very quickly and it was an extremely difficult time and we are still coming to terms with it. It was a difficult time and we are still grieving but it opened my eyes to organisations such as the Samaritans and how much help, support & guidance they provide to people. 

As my dads life was centred around sports then it's no surprise that mine was the same, however it's fair to say that in my 20's I wasn't as active as I used to be. I started running approximately ten years ago, mainly to try and get healthy and lose some weight. Initially I had no aspiration for any races but over time the competitive side of things came out and I've ended up competing in a number of 10k's and half marathons. Taking part in a marathon was naturally the next step, but it always felt a bit of a step too far and I didn't seriously consider it. In recent years I had been thinking about it and decided to try it, I also thought that if I was going to do it, I wanted to do it in style and go for the London Marathon! I applied for the 2023 marathon through the ballot but was unsuccessful,  however through my employers and their partnership with the Samaritans an opportunity arose to compete in the London Marathon, I couldn't turn it down!

I've also been fortunate enough that my employer (Phoenix) has agreed to match whatever I raise which will help with the overall goal of raising £2,500 for the Samaritans

Thank you for reading and any donation you give is very much appreciated