Archive for April, 2010

Over the coming months The Blue E blog will feature a variety of guest bloggers. Our first instalment kicks off with Life & Style Editor Nicole O’Neil who ran in the London Marathon for the first time over the weekend. She’s managed to rope in her husband, James, and they are putting in a mammoth effort to help raise funds for CLIC Sargent, a charity which helps children with cancer.

Checkout her guest post to Find out all about 18-year-old Ollie’s experience fighting the illness – and the gruelling training that comes before a marathon.

On Sunday 25th April thousands of marathon runners entered into one of the biggest challenges of their lives.

After six months or more of preparation, budding athletes from across the UK put their bodies under intense strain as they ran 26.2 miles, with the majority hoping to raise funds for charity.

This year, I decided to bite the bullet and join them, just so that I could tick the box and say: ‘Yes, I’ve done it: I’ve run the Marathon.’

It all began last June when I visited Karen, a personal trainer at Matt Roberts, in the hope of toning up. Karen trained my husband James and myself to run the Royal Parks half marathon, which was a feat in itself. I remember thinking as I crossed the finish line: ‘There’s no way on EARTH I could do that again.’

Six months on, having trained through rain, hail and snow (the hardships), I’ve made it through the London Marathon.

Ollie’s story

Clic Sargent

We are running to support CLIC Sargent, a charity which helps to support children with cancer. Ollie, a beautiful 18-year-old, is one of the charity’s ambassadors and she has spent the last 12 to 18 months documenting her own experience of dealing with cancer on the CLIC Sargent website.

Find out more about Ollie’s story.

A bright and bubbly teenager, Ollie found out she had cancer when she started to get pain in her lower back. Initially she thought the pain came from a fall she’d had. But after several tests she discovered from her doctors that she did in fact have Ewing’s Sarcoma, a form of bone cancer.

Ollie’s video diaries:

Olllie’s story
Ollie chats to her mum
Ollie with chemotherapy machinery
Ollie’s last treatment
Ollie’s hair starts to grow back
Ollie’s sister trains for the marathon

Clic Sargent

To meet a young woman who was being so brave and strong while going through something so difficult was incredibly inspiring. Ollie told me about some of the toughest times of her illness, such as missing out on parties which all her friends were going to because she simply didn’t have the energy, or because the chemotherapy had taken away her confidence in her appearance.

She has also watched all of her friends choosing which universities to go to over the past year, while she has had to put decisions like that on hold for the time being. Thankfully, now, Ollie has finished her treatment. Her hair has started to grow back and she is on her way to recovery. Ollie’s sister Georgie and her boyfriend Ben have been in training to run the London Marathon to raise funds for CLIC Sargent and have already raised more than £40,000. You can donate at their fundraising page here.

The training

Nicole O’Neil

I’d always had huge respect for people who could run a marathon. Watching it on TV on a Sunday morning I’d think: ‘One day, one day’. But only now do I understand just how tough that training can be.

There are so many highs and lows: times when you can’t believe how great you are, training for this big Marathon, and times when you feel absolutely floored, like you’ll never be able to finish it and you’ve been a fool for entering in the first place.

I cannot count the number of wintry Sunday mornings when I woke up and it was freezing, pouring down with rain outside and I knew that I had to be out and running at 11am. It was enough to send anyone straight back under the duvet. But of course, after each run, you feel a big sense of achievement (and relief) for having got out there and done it.

James Hopkirk

Going up from 13 miles to 15, 18 and most recently 21, was tough. As James sailed across the finish line of our most recent race, ‘The Cranleigh 21 miler’ in two hours and 54 minutes, I hobbled over 20 minutes later with a slight lip quiver. And I was jealous that he’d found it so much easier than me.

That’s another thing that happens in marathon training: it gets competitive. And sadly, if you’re training with a 6ft 2in natural-born runner, there can only ever be one winner. It just took me eight months to realise it.

There have also been the massive highs: the moments when the weather has been stunning and you get out there on a beautiful, sunny day and feel like the world’s your oyster. You are fit, healthy and free to run wherever you want to. And you’re excited to be taking part in such a big challenge, earning yourself a massive sense of achievement and pride along the way.

Crossing the finishing line filled me a huge sense of pride I’m sure other Marathon runners feel too. It is probably one of the most emotional moments of our lifetimes. It’s the longest race most people will ever run and all of that training has finally paid off. I truly massive high I’m looking to recreate in the future.

If you’d like to make a donation to support CLIC Sargent, visit our justgiving page (no rabbits were hurt in the making of the photograph album featured).

Find out more about Ollie’s story

Find out more about running for CLIC Sargent

Tags: CLIC Sargent, Ewing's Sarcoma, James Hopkirk, lifestyle, london marathon, Matt Roberts, msn, Nicole O'Neil