I took up running around September 2004 and started with short jogs. After a while I stretched to a couple of miles until one day I managed 10,000m. So after that I tried running to work (just under 9 miles) and to my great amazement got there.
My next step was to enter the Reading Half Marathon 2005. As a 17 stone fatty with very little exercise behind me this was quite a challenge to say the least. So I decided to do it for charity and raise some cash for Amnesty International (UK). My aim was to raise at least £500. In the end I raise £630. In the end I waddled home in 2 hours and 42 minutes totally exhausted and more than a little down about my level of fitness and speed.
On May 30th and now weighing in at 16 stone I ran the Brandon Forest Half Marathon 2005 and this time finished in a slightly more impressive 2 hours and 27 minutes. I ran this one at a more relaxed pace as its preparation for the big one…
On June 12th I will be following up this race with a full marathon when I enter the Edinburgh Marathon 2005. Yes, wobbly Mr E will attempt to run 26 miles and 385 yards without falling over. Once again I will be running for Amnesty International (UK) – this time with an official sponsored place which means I must raise at least £500. My planned target is to raise £2000 for this race. A long way to go in more ways than one. So why not sponsor me for this too. Perhaps you have a company logo you’d like displayed on the day in return for a donation. If so then contact me.
You can donate to my Edinburgh Marathon fund by clicking on http://www.justgiving.com/ediemarathon. Note that both the Half Marathon and Edinburgh Marathon pages allow UK tax payers to donate their tax as well, thus giving an extra 25% free!
The route I run weekly is along the river which is approximately 8.86 miles judging from my bike computer and 8.71 judging from my shiny new GPS. The car journey is about the same via the Barton Road but that route is not as safe or scenic as the one via the river. Both are shown on this map below with the river route being the Easterly fork in the two paths.
