Fundraising is fun.

#4 reason for doing the London Marathon: to raise money for MS Trust
#4 fact about M.S: It is usually diagnosed when people are in their 20s and 30s

I have surprised myself by putting #4 reason so early on… I have to say that when I originally thought about doing a marathon, I really did not want to do it for any MS charity at all. I wanted to leave all thoughts of MS behind in my earlier life but that was not to be. The more I thought about it, I could not run away (ha ha) from that connection. I grew up selling T. towels and raffle tickets and organising tombolas…..and some of that must have been useful! There is more research going on now than there was in the early days of my mother’s illness. She seemed to be involved in some quite bizarre research trials including a gluten free diet and hyperbaric oxygen tank treatment. Friends with MS tell me that thankfully there is more than that on offer now. So fundraising for research is on my mind. I am only going to do one marathon and I am only going to do one big fund raising frenzy. Family and friends all over the world have been invited to organise fundraising events and I am touched by the support and thrilled at the imaginative ideas! For my part, as well as the donations page and supporting planned events,  I will  do a monthly fundraising activity. My October event is to count and cash in the change jar money from the kitchen, whilst sharing a drink with Rick! Fundraising will be so much fun! Let me know if you want to join the fundraising club!

Fundraising in the 80’s

I can’t finish this weeks blog without saying something about my training …or lack of it. I seem to be plagued with niggles at the moment. I am aware that I still have plenty of time but it is slightly worrying. I did run twice last week and did a long walk as well as usual swimming and pilates. But my knee has been quite painful a lot of the time and now I seem to have done something to my ankle too. Hopefully as long as I can keep in a generally fit state and swim, walk and cycle I will be ok to push back the running for a while. So I have booked a doctor and physio appointment and we shall see!

My Mother Margot

#3 reason for doing the London Marathon: My mother Margot

#3 fact about M.S:Multiple sclerosis is not inherited, but family members do have a slightly higher risk of developing MS

Weirdly, I forgot to say that my mum had M.S.
My mother Margot is not the main reason for me wanting to do a marathon. As you can see she is #3 reason. However once I decided I wanted to do one I could not stop thinking about her. When I thought about applying for a charity place it was really hard for me to think about doing it for any other cause than M.S. but, believe you me I tried hard! M.S. dominated my life from the age of about 10. It probably dominated my mum’s life for longer than that, but it was when I was 10 that she told me she had M.S. That was a conversation that I remember very clearly.

Obviously my mum could not have run a marathon. She did do a lot of running around though as she had 4 girls and she could not drive! Running was not really a ‘thing’ then, although weirdly enough I seem to remember that she was once seen by Dr. Roger Bannister…or am I making that up? My mother was an inspiration in that despite her illness she carried on as long as possible to do new things and to seek new experiences. She was helped in this by a totally devoted husband, my dad,’Mr James’. My parents travelled extensively, became involved with starting a charity, were active in their local community, went to the theatre, enjoyed exhibitions and more. But everything they did in my mum’s later life must have felt like training for a marathon as it required a huge amount of preparation, planning and pain.
My preparation, planning and pain are different, but like my mother, I have a loving and supportive family to help me.

I have a lot more I can say about my mother and I will!
I am running for the MS Trust http://www.mstrust.org.uk
Find my donation page here http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/giving/