Charities Chosen

OK - serious time. This is where you have to get your money out. I have chosen the four charities I want to support...

The Alzheimer's Society - an undersupported area of medical research with real hope of making breakthroughs in a condition which affects the lives of millions of sufferers and careers.

Rainbows Children's Hospice - a local hospice in Loughborough which does fantastic work with children with life limiting and life threatening conditions.

The National Trust Neptune Coastline Campaign - the races are over some of the most spectacular coastline in the country, much of it owned by the National Trust - but they need help to maintain it, and to protect more of it.

The Tolkien Society Education Travel Bursary - I owe much of the happiness in my life to the Tolkien Society, from meeting my wife to finding many of my friends. The Education Travel Bursary is a new venture to promote the educational side of the society by helping Tolkien Scholars to attend events and visit places relevant to their work.

Links to the relevant online sponsorship pages are on the left. Please choose your favourite(s) from the list and give generously - remember I am doing 7 months of dedictaion and pain for this!!

Many thanks.

Dovedale Dash

Broke off serious training for one weekend last Sunday to take part on the 54th Dovedale Dash - 4 3/4 miles of complete madness, given it had rained hard for several hours before the start, making the course a quagmire (except for the bit through the ford across the Dove, which was just deep, wet, and cold). 1150 took part, and I came 217th, which I am pleased with. 40 minutes 12 seconds, which was also OK given that I have been training for much longer distances.

Training Underway

Training is well underway now. Between the start of July and the end of October I have now done 130 miles, and I'm now typically doing 20 miles a weekend. Just need to get some more miles under the belt before the first race.

Races chosen

Plunge taken, registration paid.

I'm going to do four half marathons in the Endurancelife "Coastal Trail Series".

5 Dec 2009 - Gower
27 Feb 2010 - South Devon
27 Mar 2010 - Pembrokeshire
22 May 2010 - Exmoor

Details of these can be found by following the "race details" links. These are no ordinary half marathons - if you don't believe me, see the elevation data for the Gower race! Completing these and staying fit through the whole of the winter is going to mean a lot of miles of training!