September 2024

On Sunday 15th September, Emily and I took on our first challenge, The Langport Triathlon. The weather was perfect, around 19c, with some sunshine and clouds. Thankfully there was no wind and no rain. When we arrived I was very apprehensive about what the day would bring, but once we had been given our instructions along with everyone else and entered the water, I had to push the nerves to one side.

Emily and I were fortunate to be given a lane on our own, as I would have struggled in a shared lane. I concentrated on what I was doing,my stroke and how many lengths we had completed. After the 400m, 16 lengths were complete, we got out of the pool and entered transition, running to where we had left the tandem and all the things we needed for the next stage. We had a lot of people who had come along to support us, which was a great motivation for us. We had to run with the tandem through transition until we reached the road, where we were able to mount the bike. We had 22.5km to cover, with a lot of hills to climb! This was where we discovered we had been training on the right terrain, as none of the hills proved to be impossible. Before we knew it, we were back at the point we started and had to dismount the tandem and run with it back to the bike rack where we left it, along with our helmets and set off for the 5km run. The initial part was all cross country, we had known this, but it was very uneven in places, with pot holes and steep banks, consequently the run took us longer than it had in training. It wasn’t too long before we reached the turnaround point and retraced our steps back to the finish line. We were both thrilled to cross the finish line%, we had enjoyed every minute of the day, the support and encouragement from other competitors and the crowds was just lovely. Now we are looking forward to being able to compete in another triathlon!

June 2024

When I took on The London Marathon for the second time in 2018, I honestly thought my marathon days were over. Life has a way of throwing a curve ball and when my new guide Emily approached me a couple of months ago, volunteering to take on The Langport Sprint Distance Triathlon with me, on 15th September 2024, one thing led to another. Emily and I are also registered to take on The Bath Half Marathon on 16th March 2025 and The London Marathon on 27th April 2025. We will be raising money for Guide Dogs with all of these events.

My target sum for taking part in The London Marathon via a charity place, is £2000 anyone who followed me in 2017 will know that I raised just short of £7500 and in 2018 managed to better that and raise nearly £12500! I like a challenge, so I hope to better the 2018 total and will give it my best effort, with Emily’s help. In my mind I am aiming for £14500. This is not a random figure, the first £2000 will go to Guide Dogs via the events team, the rest I’d like to use to name and sponsor 5 Guide Dog puppies. £2500 for each one.

Over the next year I am planning to have numerous fundraising events, with all the training and raising funds, Emily and I are going to be very busy!

By the way, for those who don’t know, when we do all of these events, I will have celebrated my 67th birthday and Emily her 22nd! Thank you for volunteering to keep me safe throughout all of these events Emily, I couldn’t have done it without you!

Posted 2023

I have been a Guide Dog owner since March 2005, when I was matched with my first dog Izzy. She was followed by Alfie in 2013 and my current dog Poppy in 2021.

I became a volunteer fundraiser for the charity Guide Dogs and over the last 18 years I have been involved with raising in excess of £120000 for the charity.

Part of that fundraising involved raising money to name and sponsor guide dog puppies through their puppy training, £5000 for each one. These were called Monica, Jackie, Mike, Grace, Poppy, JoJo,, Sarah and Lizzie.

Coincidentally, when Alfie retired and I was on the waiting list, Poppy the puppy I named and sponsored, was the first dog to go through training that was the right match for me. We have been partners since February 2021 and she , like my previous two dogs, has enabled me to have the freedom to live an independent and active life.

I published my first book ‘Running Blind on 2nd June 2023. This has alternating story lines, one is my personal life story that starts when I was just 5 years old, the other chronicles how I as a 59 year old non runner came to be running and training for the London Marathon with a guide, in order to raise money for the charity close to my heart. I went on to complete the `London Marathon a second time and to take up triathlon I’m still training for triathlon and have no plans to give up any time soon, despite fast approaching my 66th birthday!

Although I said for now, I was going to take a back seat from fundraising, it hasn’t happened that way! I’m still raising finds and being given donations, so I thought it was time to set up a new Just Giving page, less than a month after closing the last one! The money raised here will be used to name and sponsor a Guide Dog puppy, who will then become a life changer, giving someone independence and freedom to live their life.