Having been down to Huddersfield, NDNA head office for the day I had to pass through Newcastle on the train. I have made this trip a few times now but today there was added excitement, the Great North Run sign was up on the Tyne Bridge, resplendently announcing the arrival of the Great North Run next Sunday.
I went out for a run with Tracey last night and despite a slow start, both of us were tired and it was unusually cold, my legs soon loosened off and I really enjoyed the run. So a few more short runs this week and next and I will be ready to take on the streets of Newcastle. Me and Mo Farah!
The bridge looked amazing in the sunshine, I can't wait to be running over it, waiting for the red arrows to pass and hearing Mark Knopfler's Local Hero in my head! Great North Run - here comes JaneyM!!!!
Thursday 31 August 2017
Friday 18 August 2017
Great North Run - 3 weeks to go.
This year hasn't been my finest running year. I have had lots of other stuff going on. PhD fieldwork, new job, injured children! But whilst I haven't churned out loads of races I have still been out running, with my wee running buddy Kobi.
Those who know me well know that I have done a number of fundraisers over the years. After Ali died it felt right to raise money for the charities, organisations that have helped me get through the last four years. Cancer starts by taking away your loved one and then like ripples of water from a stone dropped in the pond it just keeps on going eating away at the fabric of the life you once had. Ali said when he was diagnosed that it felt like a train wreck had happened where all the carriages were thrown up in the air and only when they all hit the ground would I be able to start piecing our lives together again. It has taken four years for those carriages all to hit the ground, life is slowing finding it's new groove for us all. It will never be the same again but it can still be good, fulfilling and we can all face different challenges in our lives. But it hasn't been easy getting there. We have all had to find our way at different rates and in different ways. My running has been something that has kept me afloat and being able to thank the organisations who have helped me has felt very important.
So with three weeks to go until the Great North Run, my last fundraising effort to say thank you is underway. The last charity I want to say thank you to is the Samaritans. Often they are seen as an organisation that you only go to if you are desperate. And I am sure that is absolutely true for some people but for me they were a calming voice on the end of a phone, and an ear when I just needed someone to talk to. I am not embarrassed nor do I feel weak that I used their services, often someone to listen who had nothing to do with my situation was just what I needed. And they were always there. I could not have gotten through the last few years without their support. They gave me the strength to carry on through very difficult times. So as I said this is my last charity event, not my last ever race just my last charity event. I have thanked the Haemophilia Centre, Cancer Research, Maggies and MacMillan. So with this one I will have put a little back into a charity that really helped me, and could well be there for any of you in the future, I would always say just phone them, it is not embarrassing or a sign of weakness, it gave me strength, quite the opposite.
As I said earlier this hasn't been the most spectacular running year for me but I have steadily kept on going out and I did do the Moonwalk in June with my Mum. 26 miles running or walking is still 26 miles! But I have turned out a few 10km's and plenty of parkruns this year. My favourite I think was the trail run in Glentress with Bannockburn a very close second, really enjoyed that route, very me, hilly with spectacular views. So from spring onwards I have been regularly going out to just enjoy my running. This weekend will see me do my last long run, hopefully around 11 miles.
My race number arrived in the post yesterday, 41,194! I thought that the London Marathon was huge but this race is enormous!!!! I am fairly confident I won't be last in this one!
Those who know me well know that I have done a number of fundraisers over the years. After Ali died it felt right to raise money for the charities, organisations that have helped me get through the last four years. Cancer starts by taking away your loved one and then like ripples of water from a stone dropped in the pond it just keeps on going eating away at the fabric of the life you once had. Ali said when he was diagnosed that it felt like a train wreck had happened where all the carriages were thrown up in the air and only when they all hit the ground would I be able to start piecing our lives together again. It has taken four years for those carriages all to hit the ground, life is slowing finding it's new groove for us all. It will never be the same again but it can still be good, fulfilling and we can all face different challenges in our lives. But it hasn't been easy getting there. We have all had to find our way at different rates and in different ways. My running has been something that has kept me afloat and being able to thank the organisations who have helped me has felt very important.
So with three weeks to go until the Great North Run, my last fundraising effort to say thank you is underway. The last charity I want to say thank you to is the Samaritans. Often they are seen as an organisation that you only go to if you are desperate. And I am sure that is absolutely true for some people but for me they were a calming voice on the end of a phone, and an ear when I just needed someone to talk to. I am not embarrassed nor do I feel weak that I used their services, often someone to listen who had nothing to do with my situation was just what I needed. And they were always there. I could not have gotten through the last few years without their support. They gave me the strength to carry on through very difficult times. So as I said this is my last charity event, not my last ever race just my last charity event. I have thanked the Haemophilia Centre, Cancer Research, Maggies and MacMillan. So with this one I will have put a little back into a charity that really helped me, and could well be there for any of you in the future, I would always say just phone them, it is not embarrassing or a sign of weakness, it gave me strength, quite the opposite.
As I said earlier this hasn't been the most spectacular running year for me but I have steadily kept on going out and I did do the Moonwalk in June with my Mum. 26 miles running or walking is still 26 miles! But I have turned out a few 10km's and plenty of parkruns this year. My favourite I think was the trail run in Glentress with Bannockburn a very close second, really enjoyed that route, very me, hilly with spectacular views. So from spring onwards I have been regularly going out to just enjoy my running. This weekend will see me do my last long run, hopefully around 11 miles.
My race number arrived in the post yesterday, 41,194! I thought that the London Marathon was huge but this race is enormous!!!! I am fairly confident I won't be last in this one!
Other runners have said to me about the Great North Run "Oh it is too busy"', "the last mile is horrible", 'the wind is terrible along the sea front", "it always rains".... but you know what? I have run 31 miles on my own across hills and moorland in Kielder forest, I have run shoulder to shoulder with thousands in London. Over 30 years of running and racing I have run in hail, rain and shine. Great North Run is just one to tick off. I can't wait, I am getting quite excited. I dearly hope the Tyne Bridge is a little less rainy than it was though on a trip down to NDNA head office! Very rainy that day....
So if you are continually amazed at what I am getting up to next please go to my just giving page:
Just a few pounds will help fund the samaritans good work, you never know when you might need them. My life and my children's lives have been turned upside down with what happened to their Dad. It has been a long road, we are all getting there, but rebuilding your life without a loved one is incredibly difficult and everyone takes it at different rates. I thought as Mum I had to hold it all together, it took me a while to realise that I couldn't sustain that and that my kids needed to work through their own grief in their own way. That's when I needed the samaritans, to give me the strength to continue to be there whilst they worked through their grief. So please if you can donate to my chosen charity, just one more time. I can't thank all the organisations who have helped us enough, this is my way of trying to say thank you.
don't worry, be happy :)
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