For those of you who know me, they will know how much of an effort this is! There may even be some laughter, mockery, or downright disbelief.
Because I don't run.
I was THAT girl in your PE class at school who would forget her kit, have a note for a "sprained ankle", get a convenient headache or any other number of excuses to get out of doing any kind of physical exercise. The only time I willingly took part in a sports day was when I was House Captain and there was literally no other person to complete the relay team. 200 metres (I have no idea, I'm making that up, it felt like 3 miles) and I thought I would die. My gym teacher even wrote in my school report once "Charlotte needs to realise that increasing her heart rate will not KILL her". Sports was definitely NOT for me.
Even now, my partner is the kind of guy who can just knock out a 12 mile run and be like, HEY, no problem, it's just a warm up (he just did all 26-and-a-bit miles of the London marathon!) I on the other hand, can MAYBE make it to the end of the road before getting out of breath/a stitch/lactic acid build up, and be living off the fact I raised my heart rate (for all of 12 seconds) for the next 6 months.
Running, is not for me.
But neither is cancer.
She had been fighting breast cancer, and fighting it hard! I am incredibly grateful that I got to know this incredible woman, and devastated that she is no longer around.
Yet there was absolutely nothing we can do. I'm upset for her, I'm upset for her family. I'm upset.
Families everywhere are affected by cancer, we aren't the first. But why why WHY is this terrible disease continuing. We live in a society that can map the human genome, but can't find a cure of cancer. We send people into SPACE, but we can't beat cancer. We can clone another species but we can't stop cancer.
It hurts because it seems as if there is no justice in the world. If you believe in god, or karmic retribution, or anything, then HOW can this happen?!
WHAT CAN THIS MONEY DO?
I'm not going to sit here and tell you the price of a Bunsen burner or petri dish, it's important, yes, but irrelevant to people personally affected; but if you do want to know, you can find out here.
What this money can do on a human level, is give you more time. More time with your family, with a friend and with a loved one.
Without the work done by cancer research, my partners mum may never have met her grandson, and I know that meant the world to her. When we told her we were expecting she literally jumped up and down with excitement, crying "I'm gonna be a nanny, I'm gonna be a nanny" before calling everyone! When she first met him, she burst into tears. But there are many others out there who have never met their grandchildren, and many who never will. There are parents who are fighting not for themselves but for their children.
So I want to raise money, as a thank you for the time we were given, but also because more needs to be done!
I want to raise £1000
It's not a lot of money in the grand scheme of things, but it's a good start. A few months back when I first signed up to run, it was in anger and frustration at Mark telling me her cancer might have spread. I felt useless and wanted to do something, ANYTHING, just somehow make a difference. If the only thing I can do is try and ensure that there is enough research going on that someones life ends up being saved, then that's the best I can hope for.It doesn't sound like much but it all adds up.
Which is why I bring this here! To reach more people than my circle of friends could! Everyone has their own story, everyone has their own reasons. This is mine. Help me raise some money so that the people at cancer research can continue on their work and help the people of the future! They have already done so much! But right now it's just not enough.
My hate of running looks a bit precious now, doesn't it?
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