Sunday 26th April. For many months this date has been penned in my mind. I was waiting to run down The Mall and finish my first London Marathon. Alas, it wasn’t to be quite yet.
My fundraising for The UK Sepsis Trust was already sat at over £500 when the races were delayed. I knew that I’d kick off again closer to the date but in the meantime it had slowed a bit. Given the great work that The UK Sepsis Trust does, and the fact they are now supporting those affected by COVID-19 as well, it wasn’t an ideal time for the funding to slow. I was really happy then when I saw that the organisers were creating the #TwoPointSixChallenge. The aim to do a challenge linked to numbers two and six.
I had chosen to run for them in memory of my good friend Pete who died from Sepsis last year. He was godfather to my three kids and telling them that he had died was one of the hardest things that we ever had to do. Therfore, this presented a great opportunity for the kids to do something in his memory as well. We made the decision that we would run 2.6 miles as a whole family at the same time I should have been in London.
At 9.45 we were ready and it was time to head off, buoyed by the fact the kids had already raised £475 and the sun was shining. My wife has recently decided that with me and the kids loving to run, if you can’t beat them, join them. She had therefore downloaded a couch to 5k app. With 2.6 miles being a bit further than she or my 4yr old had run before, we decided to use this so we could run, brisk walk etc. This also gave me the ability to occasionally run ahead and get some video. I had pictured in my head how I wanted to record the event but usually the finished article doesn’t quite come out as planned. I’m pleased to say on this occasion the video came out just as I had pictured (see below), perfect for sharing the message on social media.
We saw a few others out while we were running so had to do a social distance pass but got plenty of encouragement. Before we knew it we were on the home straight with the kids eager to get home with the knowledge there were sweets waiting for them. Typically we were running just short on distance so a couple of small loops of the car park opposite were required to round us up to 2.6 and we were done.
I was so proud of the kids for keeping going and for the rest of Sunday we were overjoyed as more donations kept coming in. At latest count we are now over £900 raised which is great! Now all I’m waiting to see is if there are any further updates before I start training for London and hopefully raise even more for The UK Sepsis Trust.
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/team-heywood-2-6-challenge2475
