Thank you  so much for  taking the time to visit my fundraising page. Every penny helps so if you are able, please sponsor me online.

I am running the New York Marathon on behalf of the RNLI. Firstly, I know what your thinking!  I am not looking for a 'free holiday' so please rest assured that none of the sponsorship money will go towards flights or accomodation, that I am paying for myself. So you will know every penny sponsored will go direct to the charity itself.

The RNLI is a registered charity that saves many lives at sea. Last year their lifeboat crews rescued over 8,000 people – that’s an average of 22 people every day.

They provide an on call 24-hour lifeboat search and rescue service up to 100 miles out to sea from over 230 lifeboat stations around the coasts of the UK and Republic of Ireland. Their lifeguards provide a seasonal service on over 80 beaches in the south, south west and east of England and in 2006 they assisted nearly 10,000 people.

Shockingly, the RNLI, our ' fourth emergency service' is totally independent from Government and continues to rely on voluntary contributions and legacies for its income.

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

So please sponsor me now!

Many thanks for your support.

TRAINING DIARY

June 08

Well the time has finally come for me to start my training.  I am working off an 18 week programme which will hopefully see me go from podgy multiple pie eater to marathon runner in this short space of time! 

I started off week 1 with a few days gentle running of 3 milers and a bigger run of 4 miles.  The second week was a few smaller runs then 5 miles, and so on and so forth.  As I write this at  the end of June I am up to 9 milers at the end of the week.  This will eventually build up to 22 miles towards the end of the programme. Before we go on let me assure you-9 miles was no easy feat! Every one of the 410 mince pies I ate over christmas came back to haunt me and I spent the rest of the evening with my body quivering in shock as dehydration set in.....

Fundraising is almost as intensive as the training itself!  Without wanting to exhaust the goodwill of friends and family after last year's marathon, plus our recent wedding, Wen, Sophie and I are embarking on a series of fundraisers starting with multiple car boot sales to raise my flight and accommodation.  We have been doing 2-4 a week, with some weekends doing 2 on Sat and 2 on Sun so it's been pretty tiring but I'm pleased to say we're nearly there with the flights and hotel all booked now. We've also aquired a set of matching bumbags which is nice.....

The main target of £1700 has been slightly dented by the kind donation of 'anonymous' (you know who you are-no one else spells it like that! You cant hide from me!) and the £244 we raised at Mazey Day.  Wen and I had a fun day getting sunburned running a raffle and tombola stall.  It was a great day and we felt it went really well.Thanks to everyone who supported me.

August 08

The training has stepped up a gear and I needed to buy some new training shoes yesterday after Wen forced me to put my old ones in the wash (they did stink) and the sole fell off.  I was due a new pair anyway as it's important to get decent shoes and I must say that my knees felt a lot better and didn't hurt as much with my new ones on.

The auction went really well last week - end total was £586!  We had some great contibutions from local businesses and fantastic support from our friends and family who turned up on the night and bidded and bought raffle tickets. 

I am now half way to my fundraising target which is a relief as it's been really hard work not only doing the running but the constant thinking about how to raise money.  Unfortunately a lot of events we'd planned have been cancelled due to the constant rain but we still hope to squeeze a couple more tombolas in before the end of summer!

October 08

With three weeks to go, my training has nearly reached its peak and I am regularly doing 20 odd miles a week. Unfortuanately my body doesnt agree with all this running and I have a overuse knee injury, a pulled calf and groin strain! So, I've had a much needed week off training in the hope that things will start to fix themselves - but regardless of the injuries I will still do the run - even if I have to crawl around the course! I'm back into it tommorow in the hope that I can 'pull a Rocky' and peak in the last three weeks! The fundraising is going really, really well and I'm now £303.00 off my target - I'm so grateful of all the support that people have given me - it really is amazing so thankyou so much.

November 2008

I did it! A huge thanks to everyone who sponsored and supported me throughout! Unfortuanately I got injured at 10 miles which scuppered my chances of beating Paula, however I limped in to the finish line which I'm pretty chuffed with! Thanks again to everyone who has helped raise so much money for a great cause!