Race Day 2 - Shakespeare Marathon (Stratford-upon-Avon)

So it's marathon time again! This weekend was the Shakespeare Marathon in Stratford-upon-Avon, or at least it was supposed to be! Saturday was a nice relaxing day with Gina and Louis on the farm, capped off with a cracking pasta dinner prepared by Mr White, a movie (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - erm...no idea what that film is about!) and an early night. I was woken around 1am by the wind and rain outside and spent the rest of the night worrying about what would happen if the marathon was called off. I had several dreams about running round the farm for 26 miles so when 6am came the question was whether the Shakespeare Marathon was "To be, or not to be".


The latest update on the website said the race was still on despite the freezing temperatures, heavy rain, and 50mph winds. Unfortunately as we were crossing the start line of the race it was announced that the full marathon had been called off as the link between the half and full races had been flooded. So, I joined the rest of the half marathon runners for 13.1 miles of narrow, flooded road, hills, rain, hail, rain, wind, rain, blood, sweat, mud , rain and some more wind for good measure. Within a couple of miles I was so cold and wet that I couldn't open the bottle cap on my water, retrieve a gel from my pocket or feel my face! Some of the lowlights were running up hill and into the wind from miles 8-10 and then on the green-way from miles 10-13 which was under about 6 inches of water. It's funny how people can be as wet as it's physically possible to be and still try to avoid "puddles" on a road that is completely flooded! On the other hand some of the highlight included the organizers still trying to hand out wet sponges to cool you down, a guy who ran like Phoebe from friends and another guy who did a great horse impression when out of breath. "For the rain it raineth every day"! 

13.1 soaked, muddied miles later. 1.5 marathons done!

A well earned medal!

So cold I couldn't drink a cup of tea without help!

So, after a couple of the wettest and most miserable hours of my life I was left with a dilemma. The challenge is 10 marathons in 10 weeks, not 9.5 marathons! After a warm up, a cup of tea, a flapjack and a change of clothes in the leisure centre I managed to persuade the gym to sign me up and let me complete the rest of the marathon on a treadmill. I HATE treadmill running but in comparison to the weather outside it didn't seem like such a bad alternative! Unfortunately the weather wasn't getting any better and there were several power cuts during the run. It turns out that treadmills stop pretty quickly when there's no power! However, after another hour and fifty minutes and a visit from my wonderful godmother to cheer me on the second half of the marathon was complete in a total time of around 3hrs and 37 mins :-) 

All set for half marathon #2!

1x Stratford-upon-Avon gym membership! I'm sure that'll come in handy!

A massive thank you to Aunt Lainey for coming along to the gym after her sermon to offer her support and make sure I was OK. Also to Gina and Louis for looking after me for the weekend, supporting me on a thoroughly miserable day and getting well and truly soaked in the process! "When shall we three meet again in thunder, lightning, or in rain"? Finally, congrats to Chris for a very respectable half marathon finish, well done mate!


Another massive thank you to everyone for the continuing donations. The grand total now stands at £4,310.00!
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/FrazerCampbell_10_in_10


Well, I've run out of Shakespeare quotes so guess all that's left to say is "Good Night, Good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow" (turns out I had one more), or more accurately til it be next Sunday, Race day 3 and the Three Forts Marathon. Let's hope for better weather next week! To be fair it was probably my own fault for packing sun tan lotion after getting burnt last week :-)

Race Day 1 - London Marathon

So 14 weeks of hard training and 14 days of harder sobriety culminated with the first of 10 marathons on Sunday and a pretty good start with a time of 3:27:12, a PB by 21 minutes and 12 seconds.

I've run quite a few marathons over the last couple of years, including a few big city races but nothing can come close to the level of support yesterday. Tens of thousands of people cheering on runners they've never met for hours really is amazing!

So...what have I learnt from Marathon #1?

1. Scottish blood + 15C x 4 hours = VESTBURN! OUCH!

2. Having to look at the backside of an old man wearing a mankini is enough to make anyone run faster!

3. Over 8 miles I am about as fast as an apple!

4. Mental arithmetic is impossible after about 15 miles. I calculated that I went from running eight minutes miles to 16 minute miles and was so convinced that it was right that I spend the next four miles trying to make the time up again before realizing how wrong my maths was! Unsurprisingly this resulted in my fastest 4 miles of the entire race!

5. Despite malicious rumours circulated by Madi, Foggo is not as effective as hot tottie when it comes to dragging you round the course with a nice view ;-)

6. Miles 20-26 are TOUGH! Not sure if the pic below is big enough to show the pain on my face but I assure you it was hurting!

7. When you go 14 days without a drink and then run a marathon, by the end everything starts to look like a beer!

8. Drinking a pint for each of the 26 miles isn't a good idea!

The old legs are feeling OK today so back to training tomorrow night and preparation for Marathon #2, the Shakespeare Marathon in Stratford-upon-Avon. Will see how I'm feeling at the end of the week and then make a decision about whether I think I might be able to beat this weekends time.

I have to say a massive thank you to my wee sis for coming all the way down from Glasgow to look after and support me, Mads, Lotte and Mike from the Link team and Mo, Emma, Monika & Josh for their support during the race! It really does make a massive difference having a friendly face on the sidelines cheering you on! A big thanks to everyone else for their best wishes and continued support, it really is much appreciated! Also a massive congratulations to everyone else who was running the marathon yesterday.

The fundraising grand total now stands at an amazing £4,097.50. Yet another massive thank you to everyone for their continuing kind donations!
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/FrazerCampbell_10_in_10

Finally, condolences to the family of Claire Squires who collapsed and died in the last mile of the marathon yesterday. Such a tragic thing to happen! Good to see the British public responding in the best way possible though with over £144,000 now donated to The Samaritans who she was raising money for.

Training Weeks 12 to 14

It's late and my maths isn't great at the best of times but I make it that the countdown to race day number one now stands at T - 58 hours! The last three weeks have been a bit of a mixture of tough training and recovery, culminating in a final 21 miler last weekend. Like any good professional athlete (don't laugh!) the last big run is an opportunity to simulate race day conditions, making sure that everything is fully prepared ahead of the big day. For me this meant trying on the vest that I'd be wearing on the day, and...well...that was pretty much it to be honest. It did prove to be a successful endeavour however as I quickly learnt that it is 1) rather skimpy and 2) a bit of a nipple chomper! When I got home and took my vest off I got a bit of a shock. There was a large blister on the top of my left nipple. Thankfully on closer inspection it turned out to just be some vas that I hadn't rubbed in properly pre-race but the fright was sufficient for me to find a more effective safeguard this week. Runners Needs in Canary Wharf were able to oblige with a product aptly named "Nipguards". Only in long distance running!

Me in my LCD vest

What a nipple chomping vest is capable of

How I intend to counter the nipple chomping

So with the training all but complete I'm feeling pretty confident. Let's see how long that lasts! I've run several marathons over the last couple of years but this is the first time I've really trained properly, let's hope that it actually makes a difference! To give you an idea of how seriously I'm taking things this year I haven't consumed an alcoholic beverage in 10 days! 10 DAYS!!!!! As the beer pangs have really started biting in the last few days I've been devoting significant time to developing a strategy to build a weekly drinking session into my schedule. The outcome of these long and thought provoking sessions has been that I need to hit the beer and hit it hard as soon as possible after the marathon to allow maximum recovery time for the next marathon so roll on 3pm Sunday! I read somewhere that a non-alcoholic beer or two after a marathon helps with re-hydration and we all know that alcoholic beer is a million times better than non-alcoholic, therefore it must also be a million times better at rehydrating. FACT! Simple maths really! Can't argue with science can you!

A man with a plan. If you're going to stop during the marathon it might as well be for a beer!

The last few long runs have helped me develop my race day strategy. Any good runner will aim to run the second half of a marathon faster than the first half. I am NOT a good runner! I have NO ability to pace myself!  I am NOT built for running (I'm deceptively dense!).I am NOT going to be able to run the second half of the marathon quicker than the first! However, I DO enjoy a bit of hot tottie in Lycra so the plan is to find an attractive girl to lead me round the course in record time. Yet another stroke of genius I'm sure you'll agree.

Ahhhh....spandex, how I love you!

Thank you yet again to everyone for all of their kind support over the last 14 weeks. The fundraising grand total now stands at an amazing £3,666.25. Your generosity is hugely appreciated both by myself and the charity and you really are helping change peoples lives!

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/FrazerCampbell_10_in_10

Training Weeks 10 & 11

So Week 10 was a bit of a right off to be quite honest, late nights at work and not much chance to get any decent training in. Thankfully Week 11 was much more successful with six miles and a gym session each day during the week and a couple of big achievements on the weekend just gone.

Saturday was the Olympic Park run, a five mile run around the Olympic Park (the sharp ones among you probably figured out the location from the name of the run) finishing in the Olympic Stadium (yes, you guessed it the Olympic Stadium is located....in the Olympic Park, that's right - you're a clever bunch aren't you) with a lap of the track in front of 15,000 people and a sprint down the 100m track. I decided to run the race at my target marathon pace for some good race practice, well party for the practice and partly because I overdid it the night before and was feeling a little ropey and not really up for pushing six minutes miles. I can only blame myself, no...wait.... actually I can blame Mitan and his impromptu cocktail mixing in Roka! I have to hand it to him though, the self named Patel is a work of genius, anything that can smell and taste that good at first sip and then blow your head off once downed is a sterling piece of cocktailery (I think the correct word is mixology but I'm sure you all agree that my word is much more fun). A finish time of 35:08 put me only a couple of seconds a mile off my target seven minute mile pace so feeling pretty comfortable with my ability to pace myself in race conditions (and my ability to run on a stinking hangover).

Sunday was time for one of the last big runs before the first marathon, a gruelling 21 miler, again after another night on the town! Living only a mile and a half from the start line of the London marathon means that I can follow the marathon route and get a really good feel for the route ahead of race day. Unfortunately I ate far too much before leaving the house and spent the first couple of miles trying to keep my breakfast down (which I am happy to report was a success, although a challenge in itself!). At the start line I spotted a couple of guys who looked to be taking the run they were about to start pretty seriously. They passed me after a couple of miles at which point my competitive nature kicked in and I picked the pace up and decided to stick with them. Turns out it's a little weird to run right behind complete strangers when you're not in a proper race! Anyway they had exactly the same idea as me and were running the marathon route ahead of the big day (with much more preparation and support than me, but a lot less alcohol in the system for fuel which evens things out a bit I think). What followed was an epic 21 mile race with the lead changing hands several times and a blatant act of cheating when the two mystery runners took a short cut to avoid some roadworks, snatching the lead back with only a matter of miles to go. The last few miles must have been the most exciting race that the Isle of Dogs has seen in years, I was closing on them but was it quick enough! In the end, after 21 miles of blood (literally - found it in my shoe when I got home), sweat (again literally - but a little less surprising) and tears (not literally but it completes the sentence so let's go with it) the race finished in a dead heat. Unfortunately without a camera for a photo finish (or a finish line for that matter) I can't be certain but I could tell from the look in their eyes afterwards that they knew I was the real winner of the day. So an entertaining 21 miles in 2hrs 46mins with plenty left in the tank which bodes well for a sub 3:30 marathon, not sure I'll quite get down to the 3:15 I had been hoping for but you never know on the day...

With a new gym workout added to the routine I spent some time this week in the gym reminiscing about some of the funnier things that have either happened to me or that I've seen while in the gym. I thought I'd share a few with you over the next few weeks.

I'll start this week with my #1 most embarrassing gym moment would have to be my first attempt at a class called Body Pump. I was at Uni at the time and had spent the whole summer getting in pretty good shape. I'd done the same the previous year and then lost it all within the first day and a half of freshers week so this year I was determined to keep the fitness up at least until the end of the first week of partying. So, Body Pump sounded like just the trick and when I arrived to find out that I was the only bloke surrounded by a group of very attractive female students I have to admit I wasn't overly upset. In fact I thought it would be a great opportunity to show off a little and despite the protests of the instructor with a rather hefty amount of weight I was all set to do some serious impressing! What I didn't realize was that Body Pump is essentially performing a lot of light weight reps to high tempo music, so after about 15 or 20 reps I was pretty much done and had to be helped out from under aforementioned hefty weight by a couple of aforementioned attractive female students. Epic fail? I think so! Did I go back? I think not! WHAT A CLOWN!

Another episode of Fraz's embarrassing exercising escapades to follow next week...

Yet again, a massive thank you to everyone who has made a donation! The grand total now stands at £2,960.00, only 40 quid of an archer and a half, or three bags of sand if you prefer your cockney rhyming slang ;-) 

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=FrazerCampbell_10_in_10&faId=163391&isTeam=false

Training Week 9

To make up for the disappointment that I know you all suffered when last weeks post was a day late I have resolved to make it up to you all by posting a day early this week. Enjoy...

So another week under the belt. The new weights programme is a killer but despite the added aches and pains there have still been a few PBs so feeling strong and almost ready to go, which is handy seeing as there's only five weeks left before the first marathon!

Thankfully this weekend I'm home visiting the family and the change of scenery is helping to break up the monotony of the long weekend runs. It's amazing how different running is up here. Here's a couple of things I noticed on my 14 miler this morning.

1. Fresh air! Lung nectar!
2. Everyone, and I mean everyone says good morning! Living in London it's hard not to be suspicious!
3. There's open space up here! In fact some of the roads are so open that it made me realize how bad my eyesight is! I managed to mistake a bin for a cyclist leaning against a lamp post and a kid on a scooter for an old man with a very bad limp :-)

Unfortunately I also need to make a revision to the list of "modes of transport that shouldn't be called modes of transport because they're slower than me running"that I made while running a few weeks back. It turns out that fat kids on scooters are in fact faster than me. Marginally, but yes, faster none the less! I gave him a good race, definitely had him looking over his shoulder a couple of times but alas gravity lent a helping hand and he got away from me on the down hill.

Before I move on to complete part deux of my marathon fact file I'd like to take a moment to warn all of you who spend time in and around the Canary Wharf area. Last Saturday I met Euan in Canary Wharf to head down to The Gun to watch the Scotland/Ireland rugby match. On the way we came across a dead pigeon. As you know I've had more than a few "run ins" with pigeons over the last few weeks while training so it seemed strange to see yet another dead pigeon. However, this is where things get a little spooky! On the way back from the pub (and I will admit this was after a few Guinesses (or is it Guini?)) the pigeon had moved! Putting two and two together (and possibly getting three hunder and seventy nine) I can only assume that there's some kind of zombie pigeon epidemic slowly working it's way through the capital! Stay alert out there people!

Anyway...on to more important matters...

27th May - Edinburgh Marathon
A marathon that I'm very much looking forward too, mainly because it's a great excuse to visit Seb & Ellie. I ran Edinburgh last year and it seems like a great PB course, with the exception of the Scottish weather. As usual, every season in one day but winter decided to wait for the last eight miles so that it could make life just a little more difficult to finish the last of three marathons in three weeks. Even the winner had to stop for a rest! Let's hope for better weather this time around!

Fun fact about Edinburgh, it has the same nickname as my Dad, Auld Reekie!

3rd June - Pilatrail des Trois Dents (France)
Thankfully I obtained a more respectable D at GCSE French so this one should be pas de problème. Bonnet de douche? Oui! Au contraire? Mange tout, mange tout! Apres moi la deluge, plume de ma tante et allemagne dix points! Mon dieu! Del Boy has taught me well!

10th June - South Downs Marathon
No idea where this is but I've heard there are lots of chalk hills! Oh dear! I do however know that there is exactly 5728ft of climbing involved! Oh dear oh dear! To put that in perspective for you, that's 954.66666667 fathoms, 5,558.4030564 fods, 17,184 hands (non-equine), 0.36161855841 UK leagues, 3,335 Royal Egyptian cubit or 74824.045715 Vietnamese Dong! Glad we set that one straight!

17th June - Maraisthon Marathon (France)
Oui! De nouveau à la France :-S

Some fun facts about France...

1. There is a Victor Hugo street in every town in France. Fair enough I guess!
2. It's illegal to name a pig Napoleon in France. Just common sense really!
3. On French radio between 8am to 8pm, music must be by French artists. If it wasn't a law I'm sure they'd do it anyway, best music in the world!
4. In 1386, a pig was hung in France for the murder of a child. Naughty piggy wiggy!
5. The ministry of health once tried to promote milk as the national drink of France. Hmmm, not sure why that didn't work! The French do love their lait!

24th June - Big Five Marathon (South Africa)
Without a doubt the icing on the cake. Not only the last of the ten marathons but by far the most enjoyable and probably the biggest challenge. I've heard that this one is harder than Comrads - the notorious 88 km race in South Africa. A marathon that's tougher than a double marathon, hmmmm, should be interesting, especially with nine marathons in the legs already! However, according to the official website "In return for The Big Five Marathon’s toughness, you get truly magnificent scenery and the chance to run with zebras, giraffes and antelopes and through the territory of a pack of lions". Can't wait!

Training Week 8

I know! I know! This weeks blog is a day late, but fear not, here is your weekly dose of marathon excitement ;-)


So, week 8 is under the belt and all in all a pretty good weeks training with five runs from 6 to 20 miles and five gym sessions. Starting to feel strong, if slightly beaten up.


I've been mulling over the idea of purchasing a GPS running watch for a while now but realized this week that I have my own inbuilt GPS. I have developed the uncanny ability to tell exactly how far I've run based upon which particularly body part is hurting. I call it APS (Aches Positioning System).


0-1 mile: Arch of right foot hurts.
1-2 miles: Left foot goes numb.
2-5 miles: Left knee creaks.
5-10 miles: Right hip attempts to escape from socket.
10-15 miles: Shooting pains in arms that feels like I'm being tasered (Note: I've never actually been tasered but I can only assume from what I've seen on TV - screaming, rolling around on the floor, etc - that it's a similar level of pain ;-)
15 miles+: All of the above :-)


However, perhaps the most important event of Week 8 wasn't the training but the fact that I've finally booked the last marathon. I thought that this might be a good opportunity to share a few fun facts about each of the races. However, to avoid over excitement (and because it's well past bed time on a school night) I've decided to split it over two weeks, so here's Part 1 for your reading pleasure...

22nd April - London Marathon: 1,250 portable toilets! 100lbs of petroleum jelly! 200 bottles of baby oil! With stats like that it's not hard to understand why London is one of the biggest and best marathons in the world! For those who want to come and watch on the day there are 81 pubs on the route so plenty of places to park yourself ready to hand out those all important pints of beer...I mean fuel!

29th April - Shakespeare Marathon (Stratford-upon-Avon) - Named after some dead writer bloke who I think was competing against some monkeys locked in a room with typewriters, or something like that...Much ado about nothing if you ask me!

6th May - Three Forts Marathon (West Sussex) - known as "The Tough One", over 27 miles (an extra 0.8 miles of pain) with 3,450ft of climbing! 

13th May - Halstead Marathon (Essex) - I couldn't find any fun facts about Halstead, but Essex is easy pickings! Essex has the largest village and the smallest town in Britain! People in Essex are 38% more likely to be hit by falling aeroplane parts than anywhere else in Britain! In 1983 17 items were stolen from NASAs space shuttle while it was at Standsted airport, with a further 53 items from the jumbo jet carrying it...and finally UK bra companies sell 25% more D to G cup bras to Essex than anywhere else in the UK. Fascinating stuff I'm sure you'll agree ;-)

20th May - Brathay Windermere Marathon (Lake District) - The largest lake in England and one of the most challenging courses in Europe. It would seem that The Lakes are trying to do everything bigger and better these days with a 10 marathons in 10 days challenge on offer. Now they're just trying to show me up!

Part deux to follow next week...


Grand total now stands at an amazing £2,772.50! Thank you again for your continued support!


http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=FrazerCampbell_10_in_10&faId=163391&isTeam=false

Training Week 7

Well that's the half way point of training already and a pretty rubbish week all round. Things started well enough with another 10k PB on Monday. Unfortunately I had to pretty much moved into the office for the rest of the week to get everything done ahead of some big end of week deadlines. To make matters worse that was followed by a dodgy Burrito on the way home and a case of what I can only assume was el foodo poisono (food poisoning for those of you who don't speak fluent Spanish).

I managed to make to back into the gym on Saturday evening and was weak as a kitten, which did not bode well for the planned 20 miler today! Anyway, you don't get anywhere in life by making excuses so we went ahead as planned.

Start: Walked up to the start line for the London marathon, the plan being to run the exact marathon route. Mild and light drizzle, perfect Scottish running weather!

Mile 1: Feeling good.

Mile 2: Feeling OK. Running into the wind which is starting to pick up but only another mile and a bit and it'll be behind me. Run past a crowd of people outside a youth centre. Turns out they're looking at the remains of a pigeon who decided to take it's life by putting it's head into an extractor fan. I guess there wasn't much good on TV at the time! I know it's a long shot but I hope it's the pigeon that hit me a few weeks ago! Probably from the guilt of what it had done I would imagine! From behind it looked like him. Gray with white bits, wings, tail!. Spitting image really!

Mile 3: Want to stop! Bit of help comes with the first turn and some downhill running. Spot the first runner as stupid as me to be out in this weather. Turns out it's just a guy running home from the offie with a six pack of beer. Now that's a man with a plan!

Mile 4: Left thigh strain. Wind decides to change direction and get colder so another 8 miles or so of running into it.

Mile 5: Not a happy chappy! Hair and eyebrows have reached saturation point so water is not just running straight down my face. Damn you receding hairline!!!

Mile 6: Nearly run over by a cyclist. Good job I have cat like reflexes (note continuation of feline theme). 

Mile 7: Run right past my flat. Very tempted to call it a day as the rain is getting heavier and the rain stronger. Manage to resist and push on.

Mile 8: Overtake an old lady cycling while trying to pour herself a hot drink from her thermos. Decide that you shouldn't be allowed to call something a "mode of transport" if I can overtake it feeling like this. Also decide to take my mind of the running by coming up with other "modes of transport" that could be at risk.
1) Stakeboards
2) Scooters
3) Mobility scooters and motorized wheelchairs
4) Those silly shoes that kids used to wear a few years back with the wheels in the bottom (and no I'm not just including then because I'm a little bitter that I didn't get a pair - OK well maybe just a little bit!)
5) Dogs. Pass plenty of them. Not sure anyone's ever tried to classify them as a mode of transport but still...ad them to the list!
6) Anything that uses a road in central London
7) Rickshaws (may be covered by 6 but I'm struggling)
8) Ford KAs

Mile 9: Can't believe it took me a mile to come up with a list that poor! Are those hail stones?

Mile 10: Yes! Yes they are! Hail! Seriously? Halfway round what I like to call Hell's loop. It's a two mile stretch round Surrey Quays which does a very, very slow 180 degree turn. After running it for a while everything starts to look the same and you have no clue how far round you are. My bet is that Hell is like Surrey Quays! Not the place, well maybe a little, but more just like one big long run that goes on forever and you have no idea how far you've gone or how far you've got left to go.

Mile 11: Decided to add the Underground to the Mile 8 list as I pass Bermondsey station. How it takes that long to get from Canada Water to Bermondsey on the Jubilee line I will never know! Yet another British engineering marvel! They've even made it feel like it's going fast!

Mile 12: Turning to cross Tower Bridge, time to run the tourist gauntlet! Wind turns again, must like my face!

Mile 13: A combination of a few pounds dropped over the last couple of weeks and the sheer weight of water in my trackie b's is starting to pose regular decency issues! Start to worry that there's enough water in my clothes for me to drown in them!

Mile 14: Wrong turn #1 - down into Wapping. On the bright side found a pub that I like but couldn't remember where it was!

Mile 15: Down onto the river at last, always makes for a nicer run...but wait...if I'm running towards Canary Wharf ...then I'm heading East...which means that the river should be...on...my RIGHT HAND SIDE! Wrong turn #2! The half mile river run in the opposite direction wasn't quite as much fun!

Mile 16: Yesterday's gym session taking it's toll. Struggling to hold my arms in running position, keep falling down to my sides which, even I have to admit, makes for a very comical running style! Too tired to care! 

Mile 17 - 20: Cold! Wet! Miserable! Tired! Hungry! Cold, again! Got a brain freeze from the wind and rain! Oh and did I mention wet? I did? Well did I tell you that I was actually wrinkled like I'd been in the bath too long!

Finish: Try to purchase a chocolate bar and Lucozade from the newsagents before getting the DRL back to Greenwich. Hands are so numb that I can't get into my pocket. I wish I was someone else watching me try to operate the card machine! Three attempts to mash the right buttons on the key pad!

Yet another MASSIVE thank you to everyone for your continuing support and kind donations. The grand total now stands at £2,585.00 which puts us over half way to the £5,000.00 target that I set under a month ago. People's generosity really has been overwhelming!

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=FrazerCampbell_10_in_10&faId=163391&isTeam=false


"Pain is temporary. It may last for a minute, or an hour, or a day, or even a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take it's place. If I quit however, it will last forever!" - Eric Thomas


"Success is getting up one more time than you've been knocked down!" - Anon