Autumn is always a great time for a fresh start – back to school, new stationery, pumpkin spice lattes, etc. I returned from my holiday on the 3rd September feeling quite out of shape from a summer of only running short distances, but eager to get started on new challenges.
My holiday in Italy was spent with Scott and our good friends celebrating the wedding Michelle & James. Sadly, Michelle’s Dad was unable to walk her down the aisle as he passed away from Motor Neurone Disease 10 years ago this year. Friends and family have done various fundraising challenges throughout 2016 to mark this anniversary so myself and Holly began discussing what we could do to fundraise for such a special cause. Running for charity is always a bit difficult – I run because I enjoy it and I don’t want a charity place in London because why should friends sponsor me to do something I enjoy? Maybe I’m a bit sadistic but I like to sponsor people who are doing really challenges and suffering! So, we thought we needed to set ourselves a challenge. Our goal is to run the Manchester Half Marathon on 16th October in under 1 hour 50 minutes. Holly has only ran one half marathon previously, nearly 2 years ago, and although my PB is only just over 1.50, I am quite a way away from my fitness levels of March.
So, we are signed up to run the Manchester Half on October 16th, which has given us 5 weeks of training. We have been training really hard between our busy schedules (Holly is a primary school teacher so she’s been fitting it all in with back to school mayhem!) and I’m confident we will make our goal. It’s given us the push we need to get consistent with our training.
If you would like to sponsor us and read more about why we’re doing this, please visit our just giving page here – https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/hollyandhelen
Running for a charity challenge has really given me a new motivation. I love the half marathon distance and it’s a achievable challenge, but only if we stick to the training plan. Nearly 2 weeks to go!
Running up those hills 
Good luck with the run. I know what you mean about asking for sponsorship doing something you enjoy. I have sometimes chosen to raise money for a charity, but have only had one charity place if that makes sense, and that linked to a family member so I was happy asking for people to donate.
Good luck with the training and the run! It’s great to do a challenge which is genuinely a challenge and takes work. And doing it for charity is a fantastic idea.