Story
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
During 2020 I was due to run both the London and Chicago Marathons, but due to Covid these were both postponed. To continue with my fundraising I set myself a number of running challenges for 2020, which I have listed below:-
26 April 2020 - To run a marathon up and down my street (272 times) on on what was the original planned date of the London Marathon. With live music being performed by one neighbour and the support of the rest of my social distancing neighbours this created a truly amazing atmosphere and was key to helping me finish the challenge in just over 4 hours. A memorable day with details and pictures from the day in the updates below.
From 8 May to 27 May 2020 - To run 20 half marathons in 20 days. Beforehand, I described this as possibly my toughest running challenge to date. It do not prove me wrong. It turned to out be a real mental test, more so than physical challenge of running it. Thankfully, I stayed relatively injury-free throughout and finished the whole challenge in a cumulative time of 36 hours and 5 minutes. I have written a brief update about the event below including the full accolade of the bling from the event.
4 October 2020 - The Virtual London Marathon. With the second postponement of the 2020 London Marathon, I took up the option to run it as a virtual event which I completed in 3 hours 36 mins.
In December 2020, I was fortunate to gain a place in the Berlin marathon so I have added this to my challenge.
My 2021 challenges that are in place:-
By the end of 2021 - (this is an ongoing challenge). To run 100 Half Marathons in 100 weeks. As of 30 September 2021, I have currently run 94 of those 100.
26 September 2021 - Berlin Marathon
3 October 2021 - The London Marathon.
10 October 2021 - The Chicago Marathon (now deferred to 2022 due to travel restrictions)
So why this wonderful charity?? Well, I just happened to be flicking through a local free newspaper when I came across a two page spread about Medical Detection Dogs. I firstly hadn't realised that its main headquarters are literally on my doorsteps based on the outskirts of Milton Keynes and then I read exactly what they do there.
The charity trains up dogs to detect diseases such as cancer, Parkinson's, malaria and bacterial infections. The aim being to discover the diseases earlier thus saving more lives.
They also have Medical-alert assistance dogs trained up to detect minute changes in one person's body odour. This helps individuals with life threatening conditions to manage their day to day life.
Finally, there are the blood sugar detection dogs for adults and children living with unstable Type 1 Diabetes. These sufferers do not get a warning if they have a dangerously low blood sugar level, so the dogs are trained to sense changes in the patient's breath and alert them to test their blood.
Dogs are just the most amazing animals and they just to do this for their love of human interaction, not actually realising what lives they are saving every day!
This charity has no government funding and relies purely on you, me and the public's generosity. It needs over £2 million + a year to train and maintain these wonderful dogs. Please support this great charity.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.