It seemed like a good idea at the time.........

The chance to raise money for charity, to achieve something worthwhile and to lose my paunch which has been growing at a steady pace over the last three years thanks to a diet consisting of mainly doughnuts....

So I applied for the London Marathon and was eventually awarded a place through John Grooms, a national disability charity, which provides brain injury rehabilitation, nursing and residential care amongst a host of other services for those in need. As many of you may know, my father in law suffered from the brain disorder encephalitis and so this cause was close to my heart.

I'm in the midst of my training at the moment. Yesterday I ran six miles with Honey ( my dog ) who is proving to be a very good running partner. So if you see me pounding the streets of Truro in my fetching fluorescent jacket and tight shorts please spare a thought, dont splash me with any puddles and dont throw any money at me - please dig deep and sponsor me through this site.

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: John Grooms will receive your money faster and, if you are a taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.

So please sponsor me now if you can.... if you are unable to or do not wish to then please take the time to forward this web address on to as many people as possible - friends, lovers, enemies or even those annoying 'spammers'  ( That'll learn 'em! )

Many thanks for your support.

Rick

WEEK 4 - I'm now in week four of my training and I'm managing to do three to five miles three times a week plus my 'big one' at the end of the week. I'm currently up to ten miles. Wen plotted a good 10 mile route for me the other day but failed to tell me that it was an almost vertical incline! Apparently I had forgotton to do the dishes that day or something....... The runs are getting easier now, I suspect it will get a lot easier when I can go running in the morning but its just too dark and cold at the mo !  Honeys proving herself to be a good running dog though I've had to drag her along a few times when she's got lazy, and no - she wont be running the marathon !!!!! The other day I tried to 'do a Rocky' and drink raw eggs. Unfortuanately the yolk got stuck in my throat and ended up in the sink ! The fundraising is going really well and I'm now £796.00 off target. Thanks so much to everyone who has sponsored me to date, you've all been great and it means a lot to me. Thanks.

 

 

WEEK 6 – I’m now in week six of my training and have just got over a small injury I had. Apparently I wasn’t wearing the right insoles and it was causing me pain after about six miles of running! This was due to my duck like flat feet ! Luckily this setback hasn’t set me back too much and I’m gearing up for a 15 mile run this weekend. Hopefully this should see me back in the swing of things ready for the marathon which is creeping up with just 1 month and 22 days to go! It’s starting to seem very real now and it’s the fear that’s keeping me going! The fundraising has peaked and started to slow down now with me £736.00 off target but I wont let that stop me. I’m in the process of printing letters to every retail outlet in Truro , collecting brick a brack for the car boot sale in April and appealing to popular food outlets to see if they will let me and a few volunteers bag fill one Saturday afternoon nearer the time. Everyone’s been really great and I’m shocked at how much support I’m getting so a big thank you to all of you!

WEEK 8 – Well the last couple of weeks have bought fame (but sadly not fortune…) when the ‘small piece’ I was hoping the West Briton would run turned into a half-page comedy article which they re-wrote to make it look like Honey was running the marathon with me!  So to all those people who keep asking me – and to those people from the animal welfare charities currently picketing my lawn – no, she will not be running the marathon with me.  In fact she’s hard pressed to run 8 miles, let alone 26, so I think we’ll leave her at home.  Anyway, the training is going well and I’m up to 15 miles on my long runs and 8 miles 3 times a week in between.  I have really noticed an improvement in my fitness levels – Cornwall is a great place to run as there are so many damn hills!!  Which in some ways isn’t a good thing when it’s raining and windy and all I want to do is get home and sink into a nice hot bubb….. manly bath grrrrrrrr . Anyway, as usual I am scouting for sponsorship – currently £581 off target.  I put out a plea for bric-a-brac last week and have been deluged!  I could always do with more though so any more donations would be most welcome for my car boot which will probably be on 7^th April.  Thanks to all those people who have sponsored me so far, it means a lot!

 

 

WEEK 11 – My training has taken a ‘back seat’ over the last few weeks as Wen has been seriously ill in hospital. Spending all of my time in hospital and looking after Sophie I had no time to do anything but survive and cultivate an impressive beard. But I’m pleased to say that she’s back home and on the mend now and with three weeks until the race, boy have I got the fear! A huge thanks to everyone who helped up out and to all the well wishers as it meant a great deal at a really scary time. As I missed so many training sessions I’m having to make up for it now and have just peaked at 18 miles this weekend. Suprisingly it went alright and I got home in one piece, not out of breath and I made myself a sandwich. It was then that I tried to walk up the stairs and found that this would not be physically possible for the next 12 hours and so I crawled instead with the aid of a rudimentary pulley system which I invented using a belt and my dog who has not muttered a bark since……  This weekend I’m doing a car boot sale in aid of my fundraising as I’m still £306.10 off target… hopefully the weather will hold out for me. Anyway, once more thanks for all your support and sponsors and just think, in three weeks time you’ll never have to read these updates again!

WEEK 13 -  Well a huge thanks to everyone who donated items for the car boot sales. We did two in total and raised £114.55. Everyone was so kind in donating their items to the charity but notable mentions must go to Sue and Jim for giving us a single cabin bed (!) and Craig for carrying a punch bag (complete with stand) to the car boot sale for us to sell… luckily the weather was good for us so we managed to shift the bulk of the donations – the rest of which will be given to charity. The days were fun with a number of people asking ‘how much for the baby?’ an original line I’m sure you’ll agree which had me in stitches time and time again. The running is going well and I managed to run 20 miles today, the biggest run I’ll do before the marathon, mainly because my knees wont take much more but also because I now need to taper ready for the big day which is in 13 days. The sponsorship is going well and I’m only £131.55 off target so once again a huge thanks to everyone who has sponsored me to date.

WEEK 14 – Just to say a massive thanks to everyone who has sponsored me, offered me support or trained with me over the last 14 weeks. As you can see I’ve hit my target and that’s just thanks to you. I’m as ready as I’ll ever be now and have stayed injury free over the last few weeks so with the race steadily approaching (in 3 days) I’m now just trying to stay prepared mentally for it ! Hopefully I’ll finish it, I’ll be trying hard and I’ll keep moving forward!

Cheers

Rick

 

 

 

I'm pleased to report that I managed to finish the marathon in a time of 4:47 hours. As you may have seen on the papers it was the hottest marathon on record and I can confirm that it was bloody hot! Unfortuanately my knee gave way at 16 miles and so from 20 miles to 25 miles I had to alternate walking and running. Then I managed to run the last 1.2 miles. But I got there in the end and the atmosphere running up the Mall was absolutely amazing. The day before the marathon I went to a reception by John Grooms and heard more about how they spend their donations and I can assure you that its a very worthwhile cause and that the money that we have raised will be well spent on people who need it. So once more thankyou to everyone who has sponsored me or offered me support in any way. We've raised a huge amount of money for the charity which is great.

 

 

At the moment I am hobbling around like an 80 year old or James Caan from Misery. I think my knee cap may have fallen out en route and I cant manage stairs properly. The whole of my body is in pain but like Wen says, she went through childbirth and this is my pennance........

Thanks again...... Rick