Marathon Challenge - Part 1 of 3 DONE!
I started the first of my QHF Marathon Challenge (running 1/4, 1/2 & 1 Full Marathon in 2018) for HEAL Charity in Brighton yesterday when I successfully ran the 10Km (1/4 Marathon) course. No PB but I did it at a decent pace and respectable time (for me anyway), and came through without injury. Brighton is one of my favourite places in the UK and running from Preston Park down along the Seafront by the Pier to the finish line was exhilarating. The crowds were marvellous lining the route including the seafront cheering us all on.
An added surprise in that my friend from college days Fiona was coming down to support me but she went one better and actually registered and ran the 10Km too. She said I had inspired her to get fitter and this was the farthest she had run in many years. She maintained a good pace matching me stride for stride and at around 8Km she started to struggle but the crowds cheering her on and my shouting vocal encouragement in the other ear worked. As we neared the finish line I was wanted to kick on but didn’t want to leave her behind so I slowed up but with the line in sight she told me to go for it and I put in a final kick for the line and amazingly she too went for it and was only seconds behind me as I crossed the finish line. Fiona did brilliantly and hopefully will be inspired to keep running and who knows maybe a ? marathon beckons!
For me having completed the ? marathon part of my ?, ? and 1 marathon challenge….it’s a case of the easy bit done and now I have to up the training and get set for the big one – yes, a full marathon 26 miles of running at the Loch Ness Marathon in September. This is going to be the toughest challenge of all not simply because its four times the distance I ran yesterday at around 44Km but also because the whole course won’t be lined with people cheering us on. In fact there’s going to be lots of running in splendid isolation with just the beautiful picturesque vistas to keep me going – definitely a case of the Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. In part I am looking forward to the challenge of a full marathon but a part of me is also scared stiff of how my body is going to react to being pushed to the limit and the risk of injury and a failure to finish. Hopefully if I maintain a decent pace I will finish before they re-open the roads and fingers crossed without any injuries or health scares!
A couple of weeks after Loch Ness I will hope to complete my marathon trilogy with the ? Marathon that is the Great Eastern Run in my hometown of Peterborough. By this time I hope I will have hit my fund raising target of ￡5,000 for the HEAL Charity (www.healcharity.org).
HEAL is a small charity that supports and cares for orphan children in India by providing Health & Education for ALL (HEAL), and everyone involved with the charity gives up their time on a voluntary basis so no one takes a salary. With the recent charity scandals people have become disillusioned with some charities and their workers spending money on themselves rather than the people they said they would help. I chose HEAL specifically because they make sure circa 98% of donations go to help orphan children with only the smallest amount going to support running costs such as fees for charity registration, accounts, etc. HEAL’s founder Dr Prasad and the volunteers have done some amazing work over the last 25 years in literally saving and changing the lives of thousands of children but more needs to be done if HEAL is to continue rescuing children from the poverty trap and by donating to my QHF Marathon Challenge you too can do your bit, thank you - https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/deljit-singh4
