Virgin London Marathon 2011 – Testimonials

We are greatly indebted to all who generously give their time to raise money through a variety of different activities.  Marathon running requires a further commitment and dedication to meet physical and personal challenges.  Our Golden Bond runners have inspiring stories to tell so here they are:

Terry Hughes
When I was a baby my parents noticed I had problems crawling. They discovered I had a disability to my pelvic bones. With treatment and as I grew, the disability was corrected. I have been able to live an active life and enjoy physical exercise.  Being a keen keep fit enthusiast, I decided to set myself a challenge so I could help someone who was less fortunate than myself. I called it the 3 Continents Challenge as I would run 2 marathons, London, (Europe), New York, (USA) and climb Kilimanjaro, (Africa).
It was important to me my challenge would raise money for a charity which not only helped disabled people but actually gave them a real chance to have a different life.  After 2 years of meeting various charities, I decided Queen Elizabeth’s Foundation for Disabled People was the charity I wanted to help.  I was deeply moved with the work the charity does and I felt very close to the charity because I once had a disability which I had to overcome.  They are achieving goals for life.

I have now run the Virgin London Marathon 2011.  It was a fantastic day and a life time experience.  During my training, QEF offered support, advice and all runners became part of a family.  Everyone was so friendly and helpful.
One of my most memorable moments was when we were invited to QEF in Leatherhead.   To see the facilities available and how our donations would be used was fantastic.  Meeting some of the people QEF has helped or is still helping was great and motivated me so much.

I have enjoyed being part of what the QEF does – a real honour. Thank you.

Gary Thomas
Having watched the Marathon on TV for a number of years I had always thought that I would like to take part, but that thought usually disappeared by 2 p.m. on the same afternoon!

Whilst having lunch last July I was asked by Don Martin, who has completed more than 30 marathons, if I would be interested in running the London Marathon for QEF – as it seemed like a good idea at the time I said yes!   Having not done any running since my school days, I hadn’t thought through the training that I would need to do to be able to complete the run and be able to walk afterwards, so I went searching for a six month training plan, which required me to run for six days a week (Saturdays were great as they tended to be a day of rest!).   After my first training run of ten minutes I have to admit I was quite ‘tired’ but persevere I did and by the end of the six month’s plan I felt ready for the big run. 

The day itself is one that I will never forget, especially the crowds throughout the route who gave constant support along the 26.2 miles. (So much so that I have entered the ballot for next year’s race).  The experience of the focused training and then taking part in the race has made me appreciate how fortunate I am to be able to do such an event, which many others are unable to.

With the support of everyone I have raised in excess of £2,100, which will go towards helping/supporting the clients of QEF.

Abby Reilly
My London marathon experience was a mixed one! I was full of anticipation and excitement after my training went exceptionally well, hoping for a sub 4 hr marathon. But it proved to be a tough day.  I was flying for the first half, I remember thinking at mile 10, “I feel like I have only been running for a few minutes!” but at mile 17 the heat took it’s toll and I started to suffer with stomach cramps and feeling sick.   With the amazing support of the crowd, and remembering the £2,200 I had raised for QEF, I still managed to run the majority if it.   Finishing with a very respectable time of 4hr 15 min.
I am now trapped in my 3rd floor flat as I can’t walk down the stairs.  Help!

Laura
After finding out that I had been successful in winning a Golden Bond place for QEF in The Virgin London Marathon 2011 I was very excited and nervous as I was very new to running and obviously this was a huge challenge for me.  I took my training very seriously and immediately started to fundraise for QEF.  During the winter months I sometimes found training quite hard but after a visit to the QEF headquarters my worries seemed very trivial!  It was great to be able to come and see where the money is going to and seeing all the amazing work that QEF does.  I met a lot of students from the Vocational Services department and I could see how important these services are for everyone that uses QEF and how happy there were to be given the opportunity to be there and that really stuck in my mind.

The London Marathon was an amazing experience and a real privilege to be able to take part in and most importantly to raise money for the Queen Elizabeth Foundation for Disabled People.  The day of the marathon was quite a warm one.  Not something I was used to having trained all winter in lots of layers, gloves and hats.  Despite the heat I really enjoyed the run.  I struggled between miles 17 to 21, but I knew my family was waiting at mile 22 so that spurred me on and the pain passed and I was able to run the rest of the marathon.  I eventually crossed the finish line at 5 hours 18 minutes.

I collected my medal and goody bag and then I was lucky enough to have a sports massage by Fine Fettle which was organized by SeeAbility and QEF, which was very much appreciated.

Ian Goode
Couch to Marathon
Last October when the letter came through the panic started…  What had I done?  Only about 5 months earlier I was starting a “Couch to 5k” programme and now I was entered in a marathon.  I hadn’t even told anybody that I had entered the ballot and was secretly hoping I would be rejected again – but this year I got lucky.  The London Marathon had been a lifelong ambition of mine, but as I hadn’t ran since a bit of cross country at school about 12 years ago (when I was a lot lighter), I didn’t think that this was one ambition that I would fulfil.
 
A couple of years earlier my wife had worked for QEF Neuro-rehabilitation Services so choosing a charity to run for was a very easy decision.  My decision was further justified by a fantastic half-day visit to the Leatherhead site where I met numerous enthusiastic staff members and clients.  The marathon itself was a fantastic occasion and something that I will never forget, and being able to raise money for such a fantastic charity made it even more worth while.   
 
I told my wife that this would be the only marathon that I would ever do…  but now I have a time to beat so never say never… I think I may have caught the running bug.