Making it count

(Bit of a serious one today!)

Last year when I did the 5x50 challenge I ran 5K for each of the 50 days, raised money for mosquito nets, got really involved in logging my runs and felt a huge sense of achievement when I finished because I had no idea when I started if I would be able to do it.

This year couldn't be more different. Because I am also trying to increase the distance I can run- I have had to walk some days, I'm not asking for any sponsorship, I forget to log my activities and just haven't bought into the challenge it the same way, I know I can do it and am increasingly of the opinion of "what's the point?"

I will finish it, because I have committed to it but I am not enjoying it. But it has made me and Al get out mid week which I have enjoyed and we are definitely getting stronger for it!

However with approximately 733 days to go between now and Marathon day I am very conscious that it may take more than just my determination to prove I can do this to keep me going.

And so the question of whether or not to run for a charity is reverberating inside my head...

What is becoming increasingly apparent is that the challenge of running a marathon is not just about being able to run the distance - depending on which marathon you want to run it is also about being lucky enough to get a place and I think I want to run the London Marathon which is amongst the hardest of all!

The application process involves a public ballot where 125,000 people put their names into a hat for a place, the odds for this aren't great added to which the ballot closed within 11 hours of opening! For some unknown reason it then takes from April til October to find out if you've been successful.

Alternatively I can apply to a charity for a Gold Bond place, still not guaranteed as competition for these places is also high and comes with the additional commitment of raising around £2,000 but the odds are slightly better than the public ballot!

The other option is to choose to run a different marathon!

What I do know, is that I will not be able to raise that amount of money in the six months that will be available if I am lucky enough to get a place.  I don't have that sort of network, unless each of my 20 or so regular readers would all like to stump up £100 for the pleasure of reading this for the next 23 months?!
Hmm thought not!

But perhaps if I start now I could do it! I have several fundraising ideas also swimming round inside my head ( it's a busy place in there today!) which I will share with you in due course, but there is a fundamental question I need to ask -

If I were to apply for a Gold Bond charity place would you be prepared to support my fundraising knowing that the money raised is being kept by me in a bank account until such time as I have a place and can start fundraising officially?  (needless to say if I don't get a place the money will still go to the charity!)

If you would, could you please comment "yes" on my FB page, then I can see if this approach could actually work - thank you x



M - 733
Distance covered                5 miles
Total Distance covered  67.2 miles