Sunday, October 26, 2008

London Marathon 2009 - Running for Carers


Well they do say you need to have a purpose and some targets in management … Here is something for Annie and me to focus on.


We’ve both been successful in securing places in the London Marathon 2009 which is to be held on April 26th


We are thrilled to be running for Carers UK which is a National not-for-profit organisation based in London that promotes the needs of unpaid family carers.


Over the next few months we will be attempting to raise awareness of carers needs and also attempting to raise a total of £3000 for Carers UK between us through sponsorship.


Anyone who has been reading Simplicity Blog for a while will know I have passion for supporting unpaid family carers who provide more care to people with illness or disability than is provided by all the agencies of the UK combined such as the National Health Service and Social Services.


I will use Simplicity Blog to report on progress … 6 months sounds a long time in some ways but awfully close in others. Annie will be reporting more fully on our training regime and progress on her own Blog - details to follow.


The longest distance we’ve run to date is 7 miles so between 26 and 27 miles seems a long way …


Watch this space.


14 comments:

J.KANNAN said...

My dear Trevor & Annie,

Good morning and hearty congrats on both of you securing places in the great event “London Marathon-2009” to take place on 26 Apr 09.

The cause for which both of you are going to participate in the event with humane approach is really great and calls for great appreciation and good support. May God give strength and stamina to both of you to cover such a long distance of Marathon?

Dear Trevor & Annie, I hereby announce and commit a tiny contribution of GBP25/- towards your most noble and benevolent cause of fund raising and kindly let me know how to reach this money to your hands. I do not hold any credit cards. I can reach this money to you by Banker’s foreign cheque payable any where in UK. Please forward me the bank and payee details by mail enable me to fulfill my commitment.

I earnestly believe in:-

“Society is built upon Trust, Trust is built upon Faith & Faith is built upon Truth”.

May God grace and bless you both and your family at all times.

With Love & regards to you both.

J.K

Trevor Gay said...

Dear JK

Thanks for your supportive words. I will email you about the sponsorship and we both really appreciate your kind words and you great gesture of a donation.

We are looking forward to the event with a mixture of elation and trepidation – we have not done anything as ambitious as this before and for two middle aged folks this is an exciting new journey for us.

Anonymous said...

here is a good quote to go along with the idea of being outside the comfort zone

"Of course we all have our limits, but how can you possibly find your boundaries unless you explore as far and as wide as you possibly can? I would rather fail in an attempt at something new and uncharted than safely succeed in a repeat of something I have done." ~ A.E. Hotchner

keep pushing the limits. You have done well in many areas and will no doubt do well in this venture. Keep me posted and let us know how we can help.

Trevor Gay said...

Thanks Rocky - what a great quote - I sign up entirely to Mr Hotchner's philosophy regarding anything in our lives!

You can help my raising awareness of the needs of family carers. Please tell your friends, colleagues and fellow Bloggers.

It is estimated in this country that the money ‘saved’ by unpaid caring provided by family members is the same as it costs to run the entire National Health Services. In other words if family carers withdrew their freely provided labour the entire health service in the UK would be bankrupt. That’s how much we owe to carers.

Thanks again Amigo!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! I'm sure you'll succeed, and you will want to run a marathon again. Time to start training!

Gabriel S.

Trevor Gay said...

You are so right Gabriel - we have started but it seems a long way to go ...

J.KANNAN said...

Well Trevor,
When two middle aged couple folks of high calibre and devotion mingle together to fulfill such a noble cause to achieve their mission, the result is going to be amazing by Almighty's grace and support and you both are going to see it for yourselves.The indications are visible as already been referred to by Rocky in his excellent quote by Hotchner followed by in the last paragraph of his comments. Its indeed very good and great of Rockey.

J.K

J.KANNAN said...

Trevor,

Long way is always good way as it will be long standing , comparing to short lived short ways.

J.K

JOHN O'LEARY said...

Great cause, Trevor! (I'm not doing much running these days, but I can always increase my nap time.)

Trevor Gay said...

Hi John - you probably tired yourself out in the swinging 60's I reckon :-)

Sleep is over rated according to Brian Galbraith one of my virtual friends in Australia!

Steve Sherlock said...

Trevor, good luck to you and Annie. I have great confidence in you. If you need any advice, please do not hesitate to contact me. My passionate runner blog is hibernating while I recover from my injury but I have miles of experience and coaching advice to offer.

For a first time marathon, the only goal you should be setting is to complete the course. Forget about running a specific time. Run comfortably. You will have the full 6 months to prepare and that should be more than enough.

May the roads and trails be kind to you!

http://passionaterunner.blogspot.com/

Trevor Gay said...

Fantastic - thanks Steve - we will definitely pick your brains in the next six months. your experience will be invaluable to us two novices! We have a lot to learn.

Marilyn Jess said...

Dear Trevor & Annie,

What a wonderful cause. It's good to know that attention is being paid to the countless carers who help people stay in their homes, often at great personal sacrifice.

A tip from my friend, Lynn, (http://lynngrieger.com/), who helps women train for races. She personally recommends this web site, and it has information for women runners as well:
http://www.runnersworld.com/subtopic/0,7123,s6-238-244-255-0,00.html

Good luck on your journey to race day.

Trevor Gay said...

Thanks Marilyn – we appreciate your kind comments and you are so right about the plight of some carers. I’m sure Annie will be looking at the websites you mention. Annie is the ‘organised one’ of this running duo – I am just her assistant!