Rain of biblical proportions!

I’ll always remember Sunday 13th October 2019. This was the day of the 9th Oxford Half marathon, and to say it was wet is a very big understatement! To quote a good friend of mine it was ‘rain of biblical proportions’ and from start to finish it absolutely threw it down. Little did I know that it was going to be the last mass running event I was going to take part in for quite some time.

I have been a runner for years – running has always been something I’ve stuck to, and have got better at over time. I recently came across this great quote from John Bingham, the American Marathon runner and author:

“If you run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today is your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run”.

Over lockdown running has been a real life-saver to me. It’s kept me motivated and gives me an opportunity to get away from the stress and strains that we have all been experiencing. Early on in the first lockdown, last April, my son Sam and I had the crazy idea of running a half marathon around our garden in aid of Sobell House. After three hours we completed our challenge and he was secretly quite impressed with his old dad! And then in February of this year I took part in our Challenge45 event, running 45 miles a week throughout February. It nearly finished me off(!) but I did it.

Over the years, 100’s of people have run 1000’s of miles to support end of life care at Sobell House. Many of our runners have a story: running in memory of their mum or dad, grandparent, work colleague, son or daughter, neighbour… the reasons are endless and so touching. Others run because they just want to make a difference, simple as that.

On that very wet October day 18 months ago, over 450 people took to the streets of Oxford to make a difference and between them raised over ￡90,000. This year we are so pleased to be back running the Oxford Half on Sunday 17th October. If you fancy joining Team Sobell we would love to have you on the team. If you are an avid runner, or just starting out, a fast or slow one… none of this matters. We are just looking for people to make a difference on that day, run 13.1 miles, and feel proud to support end of life care at Sobell House.

We have individual places and corporate team places available. To take part please just head to our website and sign up, it’s really that easy!

www.sobellhouse.org/event/the-oxford-half

And finally…

If you own or work for a local business and would like to work with us on an ongoing basis and be a part of something special, please do get in touch with me by calling 07527849748 or emailing [email protected] – I would love to hear from you.