For reasons that I can’t explain here any better than I have on my new Just Giving page, I have decided to take part in the Bupa Birmingham Run this coming October.
This what I wrote when I put that page together a few days ago:
My story…..
It seems strange now – why exactly did I decide to do this?
It was a complex set of circumstances I’ll grant you – involving the RV8tors formation display team, Glynn Purnell (the Birmingham-based Michelin starred chef), some relevant news from a very good friend of mine and, of course, learning about Cure Leukaemia, which is based here in Birmingham.
Cure Leukaemia is helping to bring pioneering drug and transplant treatments to blood cancer patients in the Midlands. The charity part-finances the world class Centre for Clinical Haematology at QE Hospital Birmingham, to fund life-saving clinical trials to treat terminally ill leukaemia patients. To date, Cure Leukaemia has helped to treat thousands of patients through leveraging nearly £21m worth of revolutionary drugs and funding crucial research nurses to administer these trials.
Within just a few days of all those things coming together, and I won’t bore you with the whole story, I had decided to go for it, much to my own amazement.
I recently celebrated my 40th birthday, have never run anywhere near 13 miles before and as well as being built for comfort, have suffered a broken left leg and a broken right ankle, which, as my friends and family know, is just the tip of the injury iceberg!
If I don’t so something like this now, I probably never will, so please support me and my quest to raise as much money for Cure Leukaemia as I possibly can. Come October, I’ll crawl over that finish line I have to.
Thanks for your support – there’s a lot of people counting on it, including me!
So, there you have it. Training started today, with a 1.77 mile leg stretcher, just to start getting back in to it, and will, hopefully, steadily build over the coming weeks and months. In all honesty, seven months is ages to prepare for a half marathon, I just need to get over the fact that 13 miles seems like a very long way at the moment!
I’ll use this website, and of course my social media, to provide updates and no doubt plead for more sponsorship but, in the meantime, here’s the all important link:
http://www.justgiving.com/Gareth-Stringer-Birmingham-Run
I know it’s a long way off and my overall target might be a bit ambitious, but first things first is to reach £350, the minimum required by Cure Leukaemia! Anything after that will be a huge bonus, but I’d love to reach four figures!
Thanks for reading and for any support you can provide.
Gareth
