We’ve been a little quiet on the fund raising front recently.  With school holidays and Nicki’s mum being unwell, our attentions have been diverted a bit.  Now that the holidays are behind us, and Barbara is thankfully on the mend, I have a bit more time…

The amount of money raised from the previous endeavours has been phenomenal, and I’m very pleased to say that our total is now over £8,500.  If you’ve donated, thank you!  If you’d like to donate (again), please click here.

All donations to the Duchenne Childrens Trust go towards research that will find a cure for the heartbreaking condition that is Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.  See this link for more details of the research they are funding.  They’re making significant progress, but we have to keep on raising money to ensure they can meet their aim to end duchenne in 10 years.

With this in mind, I’ve been looking around for other opportunities to raise awareness and additional funds.  So when I was arranging a work trip to New York and saw that the NY Marathon was taking place during my stay, it was a no brainer!  I adjusted my travel plans to leave a day earlier, and managed to secure a place. (All of the donations go to the Duchenne Childrens Trust, and are not funding my trip in any way!)

On Sunday 2nd November I’ll be embarking on a 26 mile ‘sightseeing tour’ of the greater New York area, covering Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Manhattan.  As one of the largest marathons in the world, it’s sure to be a little different from my previous outing, although there could be a few hazards en route…!  As the average finish time is about 4 1/2 hours, I need to be a fair bit quicker than my last outing if I’m going to achieve my goal of finishing in an above average time.  Hopefully the other 40,000 people won’t slow me down too much!

Over the last couple of months I’ve put on my running shoes again (actually I had to put on a new pair when the sole came off my trusty Karrimors) and have been pounding the fields and roads.

I have to admit, it’s been harder with the nights getting longer. I’ve invested in a head torch to light my way on the early morning runs and late evening jaunts.  It’s more than a little strange running around fields in the dark, and it’s led to a few run-ins with very surprised sheep and cows!

So, keep a look out for a lone light plodding around the roads and fields, and if you can spare anything, I’ll be really grateful.

Thanks again for your support.