In memory of Beverley Ferguson

I can’t remember the first time I heard about cancer or understood what it was.  I think it was something that diffused its way into my consciousness at some point even if I didn’t really understand what it was or what it meant.  I knew it was bad and that it was some sort of illness but that was it really.

When I was in middle school, probably about age 11 or 12, I remember those conversations between mothers at the school gates and conversations about one of the girls in my class. Beverley Ferguson. Again it didn’t really register.  Beverley was in my class and was often missing from school.  And then she wasn’t around for ages.  She had cancer.

I have no idea what sort of cancer it was or what treatments she went through. I was too young to understand and to young for it to mean anything.  So I have no idea what treatments she had or what she went through. I know it went on for a while and I remember her coming back to school for a while, presumably in some sort of remission.  She stood and watched as we did long jump outside and I couldn’t help but look at the scars on her neck and on her trachea when I was talking to her.  They were scary!

Beverley Ferguson died on Christmas day.  She apparently asked her parents to have a sip of wine to celebrate Christmas and then passed away that afternoon.  I’m guessing she was 12 years old.

I’ve thought about Beverley’s parents in the past as she was an only child.  When other people her age have milestones like special birthdays, going to university, first job and getting married, they must think about these events from time to time and wonder what could and should have been. What sort of person would their daughter have grown into?  What would she have done with her life? Would she have married? Would they have had grand-children?

People shouldn’t have to go through this.  Parents shouldn’t have to bury their young children. Lives shouldn’t be destroyed and ruined through cancer.  Let’s stop this happening to other families and get some money raised for research.

Please help me by sponsoring me at http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/onepint

Disaster! Injury!

With six weeks to go until the run, disaster has struck with an injury to my training partner. Poor Alfie got a nasty nip from a German Shepherd and now has stitches in his side.

We’ve been told that running isn’t allowed until he has the all clear from the vet. So now I’m Billy No Mates for training which is going to be very tricky to fit in alongside gentle Alfie walks!!

How am I supposed to train on my own?!  Help me by pledging some money at http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/onepint

Early risers

I’ve often set my alarm clock for an hour earlier than normal with the intention of getting up and going for a run before work.  I used to run a lot in the evening and thought it would save time to get it out the way in the morning, however I have never, ever managed to get up and go for a run in the morning. I’ve always smacked the alarm back off and gone back to sleep.

Until today!

This morning, we (my training partner and I) got up at 6am and went out.  It was weird getting up so early and I half suspected that Alfie would refuse to get out of bed. But he didn’t and he was rather energised and seemed to enjoy being out so early. The night-time smells must be stronger as he was sniffing everything with his hackles going up at bushes where cats and foxes had left their smells.  In the woods the scent of the bluebells wafted over everything and was strong and beautiful.

So, we walked a bit and jogged a bit and chased a few rabbits, and two cats. We heard Leybourne Church bells chime 7am – another first.. We then did an extra loop up to West Malling and jogged back down the bypass from the station.

There was something really special about being out when most of the houses had drawn curtains and people were still in bed.

We covered nearly five miles this morning! And oh boy, can I feel it in my legs this evening…

Uncle Michael

My Uncle Michael was a special person, a real family man, full of fun and laughter.  He loved his family, spending time with his children and wife and loved to go out and socialize with his friends. It was a shock when he was diagnosed with bowel cancer having lost Uncle Rodney to this horrible disease a few years earlier. Uncle Michael had treatment for his disease and began the long fight for life which so many people diagnosed with cancer face.

Huge strides have been made in bowel cancer treatment over the last 20 years and if caught early it can be cured completely.  Life expectancy has increased significantly for people diagnosed with the disease as our understanding of the condition is so much better.  This is all because of money poured into research. Research into symptoms, into early detection and into treatments and therapies.  This is all brilliant news for bowel cancer patients and it’s due to money pledged by people like you that this has happened.

For Uncle Michael, back in 1992, his cancer was unstoppable even though he fought bravely against it and was determined to spend as much time with his family as possible.  He lived to attend the weddings of all three of his children, even though for the last one he was very poorly. When he died in 1993 he was just 52 years old.

He should have been around to live and enjoy life with my Aunty Jill.  He should have been able to enjoy time with his children and watch them thrive and develop in their marriages.  He should be here to know his seven grandchildren and watch them as they grow up and find their way in life.  He would be so proud of them all.  Cancer took this away from him and them and we need to stop that happening NOW!

When I run the race for life in July I am running in honour and memory of a number of very special people and my lovely Uncle Michael will be in my heart and thoughts as I run.  He is missed by all of us.

Please help other families to never have to miss their loved ones and sponsor me at http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/onepint

Target Update

When I started my fundraising I set my target to be £250 which to be honest I thought was a jolly decent amount and would probably be about the limit of what I would raise.

I have been completely bowled over by the kindness of the people who have agreed to sponsor me and have read my blogs and pledged money, but also at the amazing generosity of my friends and family.  I have been blown away by the response to my pleas and even more amazed by the people who have sponsored me who don’t know me personally but have pledged money anyway.

To all my sponsors – you are all awesome and amazing people who have confirmed my faith in the kindness and decency of human beings.  Please give yourself a massive pat on the back because I have now reached my target of £250 online and so have had to raise it to £350 – what a terrible problem!  With a few weeks still to go I’m hoping to smash this.

Even better news is that I have raised an even bigger amount of money offline which is adding up to a brilliant total.

BUT I NEED MORE – I’M GOING POWER AND MONEY CRAZY SO TO QUOTE BOB GELDOF – GIVE ME YER FREAKIN’ MONEY!! (I’m sure that’s what he said didn’t he?)

Please help me smash these targets again.. at http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/onepint

 

Training Partner?

Today I had planned to do another gentle jog beings I’ve only managed one proper, dedicated training run so far.  So after a morning spent very enjoyably doing an agility class with the lovely http://www.begooddogtraining.co.uk/ I waited until later in the afternoon to call on my training partner to come out for a wee jog.  And this is the response I got..

Some training partner huh?!

Oh well you can still sponsor me at http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/onepint

Ouch!

Today, I ache a lot.

Make it worthwhile by sponsoring me at http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/onepint

My friend John

It’s no secret that Rob and I are big rugby fans and we’ve been season ticket holders at Northampton and Wasps for nearly 20 years.  When we first began to go to Wasps they were playing in Sudbury in West London, a small but perfectly formed ground, great for drinking with the players in the club-house afterwards, making new friends and generally socializing before and after the game.

It was in Sudbury that we met John, Ann, Maggie and Martin for the first time and began to meet up with them at home and away games and share a beer after the game.  It was a weekend friendship, with us living in South-East London and them in North-West but we would look out for them at away games, meet up at home games and shared some wonderful experiences through amazing wins, ridiculous losses and all the ups and downs which come with supporting a rugby team.

John was as loud as life, always happy to see you and quick with a jibe and a joke. Particularly to me as I support Northampton.  He always had a story to tell and we heard many tales from his life, through his trips to America, his meeting with Margaret Thatcher, to being floored by a punch from a lesbian!  We laughed and joked with him and he was a great guy.

At the end of every season we would say farewell to our friends for the summer, wish them happy holidays and go off for a well-earned break from rugby.  In a matter of weeks it was then time for  pre-season and we would be trekking back across London to Loftus Road and then High Wycombe to follow the team.  It was always lovely to meet up again with the guys, gossip about the summer and all the new signings.

When we said goodbye to John in the Spring of 2011 after a game at Twickenham we never knew or expected that it would be the last time we saw him. We got a sudden phone call out of the blue in July to tell us that he had died.  We were shocked. Completely and utterly shocked and confused. How could this happen?

John had been relatively well up until a few weeks previously when he had visited his doctor with a nasty back-ache which he couldn’t shift.  By the time he’d had some tests and a scan, his condition had deteriorated and when he was told that he had ‘something’ on his pancreas, it was far too late to do anything.  He was rushed to hospital shortly afterwards and died within two weeks.

Pancreatic cancer is one of ‘those’ cancers.  It’s hard to detect. It’s often only diagnosed when it’s already gone too far and nothing further can be done.  Treatment often has no effect and the survival rates are really rubbish.

This is why we need research.  Research into different types of cancers works. It helps us to understand the disease and come up with treatments and tests to detect it before it’s too late.

Pancreatic cancer took my friend John from us far too early. He had only recently stopped working and was supposed to have a long and happy retirement. His death was a terrible blow to his friends and family and the speed that it happened was simply shocking.

I’m running the race for life in honour of many special people and John is one of those who I will hold in my heart and thoughts as I train and run this race.  Please sponsor me  at http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/onepint and help prevent this happening to others in the future.

First training run!

So I bit the bullet today and took Alfie out for our first training session.  My poor dog is inadvertently my new training partner and I have a special belt with a clip-on lead which I have bought to go running with him.

It was an interesting experience. We set off and I looked at my watch about 300 metres up the road and we had been going for 5 minutes. Hhhhmmm! No speed records today then!  By the time Alfie had stopped for about three wees, a sniff around, a few attempts to get in the fields to chase the rabbits, a couple of leaps at the lead to chew it and a few moments eating grass, time had kind of ticked by. But then he kind of got the idea.

Unfortunately the first part of my run up to Kings Hill is always uphill.  I know! I know! When you drive up there you wouldn’t even notice a hill but I’m telling you when you walk, cycle or run, there is most definitely a hill.  So after 5 minutes I was struggling but this is when Alfie came into his own.  By then he realised we were running rather than walking and so took off at quite a decent speed. It was brilliant, he was pulling me up the hill!! I wonder if the Race for Life people will allow me to use him on the day to pull me around the course?

I would love to have seen what it looked like. Alfie was dragging me at points, then would go on a detour and pull me sideways into the verge at others.  Then he would stop dead in front of me to have a sniff of the grass and of course we had to stop for numerous wee’s (him not me..)  At each rabbit field we had to stop for a stare and of course at the bridge we had to stop whilst Alfie jumped up to have a nose over the top (as usual.)

So we ran (okay! okay! jogged) for 20 minutes up to Kings Hill which is about one and a half miles.  It was hard work and fine until Alfie decided to go to the loo. I then had to run with a smelly poo-bag in my hand. And how many bins are there on the bypass?  I’ll tell you, none, zilch, zero, bugger all!  So once we got to Kings Hill we did a detour to walk around the footy pitches to get rid of the smelly stuff and to give a Alfie a rest – I was as fresh as a daisy of course and willing to go on 😉

And then we ran back!  So I ran 3 miles in all which is the RFL distance – okay with a 15 minute break in the middle – but it is my first training run!!

I’m already aching and felt very horrid earlier… please help inspire me to do this again…http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/onepint

My beautiful training buddy!

Sand Dune Training

I had the day off work today and as it was so nice we took the dog down to Camber Sands for a run on the beach.  Alfie loved it and went absolutely mad running around in circles, splashing in the sea and digging in the sand.  We ran around with him for a bit playing and having some fun.  I did a couple of sprints running away from him to make him chase me and then ran up the sand dunes a few times with him.  It’s hard work running in the sand you know!

Back home this evening I can feel my hamstring twinging – I think I’ve pulled it a bit.  That’s sand dune training for ya!

Hey please sponsor me – I’m really really trying to get running… http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/onepint