Charity Update & The Promised Calendar

As some of you may have recently heard, due to the hugely ambitious nature of the project Fran and I have had to put Charity China on the back burner for now. The good news, however, is that all planned charity events will continue to take place, more will be organized and all money raised so far will be going exactly where it should be going. Because this is the year for charity and that means making money whether we're here in the UK or anywhere else. And so, in the spirit of continuity, I have compiled a small calendar of confirmed events in which either myself, Fran or both of us are participating and will add more as and when these occur (this is included at the bottom of this post).

So why has China been postponed? Put simply, finance. Despite our willingness to pay all transport costs ourselves and work our fingers to the bone to get as much money to the charity as possible we just wouldn't be able to scrape together the thousands needed to knacker ourselves even more (albeit in a different part of the world). In fact, if you do the maths, costs included ,we need almost £3000 each and we needed to raise this within 7 months. That, if my calculator isn't lying, is slightly over £107 EACH, PER WEEK until the day we travel. Now, I'm by no means defeatist, but come on, unless we get some pretty rich sponsors (and it turns out these people are rich for a reason...they're tight fisted) we don't really stand much of a chance. And so the trip has been postponed.

But what of my efforts to better myself and run 10km for Charity this May? Well, in an effort to hop, skip and jump my way to the big event I've thrown in several smaller ones throughout the next few months.

Firstly, I'm now participating in the Sports Relief Mile in Manchester. It's actually three miles, but as it's only half of the Great Manchester Run it's probably going to be more to my liking and, more importantly, I'm less likely to collapse in a panting heap in the middle of the road. The immediacy of the event (March 16th) also gives me the motivation to stop being lazy and get to the gym. I'm raising money for Sports Relief with this one which goes to people living incredibly hard lives both here in the UK and abroad. I've already started the ball rolling by buying a pair of fundraising socks but you can sponsor me safely and securely through the SPORTS RELIEF WEBSITE by clicking here. Rest assured none of this money passes through my hands and goes directly to Sport Relief with your name on it so you can feel good doing it!

Before this, however, Fran and I are doing a sponsored 16 mile walk between Edale via 'The Dark Peak' and Crowden (the designated 'Middle of Nowhere') for Great Ormond Street Childrens Hospital. However, we are not alone! Team mates will be added as and when all are confirmed (if you want to join the team, email me!) and again you can sponsor us via Justgiving, where (again) no money will pass through our hands but will be sent directly to the hospital with your name written all over it! This takes place on March 8th.

Lastly, for those of you good people just itching to sponsor us but waiting for the right cause we are now accepting paypal donations through the button at the top right of this page which (we are assured) will not be taxed and which we will personally forward to the charity of your choice which you can state in the 'notes' box when making the donation. So, if you don't particularly support Scope, Sports Relief or Great Ormond Street Childrens Hospital, make a donation and tell us where you want it to go.

Events Calendar to date:

Pennine Way Trek (16 miles) 08/03/08

Sport Relief Manchester Mile (3 miles) 16/03/08

Bupa Great Manchester Run (6 miles) 18/05/08

Adding Insult To Injury

As if it couldn't get any worse, after puffing, panting and almost passing out at the gym and after realizing that I am undeniably the least fit person of my age on the planet, I have signed up for the Bupa Great Manchester Run.

Always speculating to accumulate I have invested the £30 registration fee in the hope that friends and family will be so shocked that I've alctually registered for a run that they're simply hand over their wallets in amazement. I won't lie, I'm not ready for it at all. The last time I went to the gym to 'train' I couldn't feel my legs after 2km, at 2.5 I was ready to stop moving and let the treadmill fling me into the wall and at 3 my body practically forced me to press the emergency stop button and limp back to the changing rooms. I have no idea how 10km will treat me ("Only 10km?!" you say. "I thought it was a marathon!").

Doing the maths I estimate that at a push I could cover 2.5km in just over 15 minutes, although after this I'm sure I would be ready for a couple of hours rest in front of the TV. That means that by May I need to double my abilities twice over. But how do you go about doing that?

I'm assuming tahat the officious looking people in the red polo shirts at the gym will have some ideas. Personally I think it's impossible. But then again, that's why I applied.

Coincidentally, you can sponsor me for this and all other future events using the 'Sponsor' button to the right of this text.

A timetable of events currently organized and more news on my imminent death by running soon.

Ben

The Mean Mile

I've just returned from my first 'training' trip to the gym and from the looks of me you'd think I'd run the London Marathon. I'm still wearing my jogging bottoms, red faced, sweating and I think my heart rate has only just returned to normal. In a word I'm shattered, un-fit. That's not to say I was surprised at just how little it took to make me feel like I'd just passed a quiet hour with the Spanish Inquisition but it is a little dissapointing that at 22 I was (quite literally) out-jogged by a skinny pensioner not even half my size on the adjacent treadmill.

So what was it that pushed me to the point of collapse? What gargantuan feat of cardiovascular excess made me feel more exhausted than I have in years? I'd like to lie and tell you I ran 10km in under 30 minutes and then jogged to the rowing machine to row the final 10km but I can't. The truth is that after 15 minutes running at 9km/hr I managed to find enough strength for a meagre 10 mimutes on the exercise bike before retiring to the changing room with multiple stitches, a dry mouth and inexplicable pains in my chest.

But what did I expect after a year of takeaways, TV and upwards of 40 pints a week? I've hardly been living the health fanatics dream and this, as I have written previously, is the year of change, so where better to start than absolute zero? And who knows, at the end of the whole ordeal (because that is certainly what it is) I might be body beautiful as well as being able to hand over a rather large cheque to charity.

For now I'm going to relax enough for my face to return to it's normal colour, drink a glass of water and write down what exactly I managed today so that tomorrow I can try and beat it, even if it's only by an extra minute. My one pair of tracksuit bottoms can be thrown in the wash ready for tomorrow and I can spend the rest of the day smug in the knowledge that I have started the new regime.

Fran's also joining a local gym soon. I'm quietly wondering whether I can work a competition of some sort into that one. Let's hope she fairs better than me anyway! More soon.

Ben

Funding For Fitness

While going to China to Trek the Great Wall and make as much money as possible for Scope seemed like a fantastic idea, the last couple of days have completely failed to produce any methods at all for just how we are going to get the money that we need. Undoubtedly £5400 is no small amount and so, while a tombola and a sponsored silence might pay for a taxi to the airport, it certainly isn't going to see us all the way to the mysterious East. Thus, we've realized that to get as much money for the charity as possible some sizeable events will have to be planned. And lots of them.

To say the guy at the gym this morning gave me a 'knowing smile' would be an understatement. As I remember it he looked up, laughed, looked back down, shook his head and then handed me the 'new members form' and a pen whilst obviously trying to hold back the laughter and said 'New Years resolution is it?' And he's right, it is, but cleverly I've managed to incentivise. Not only have I found a reason to go to gym but I've also found an excuse for paying the membership fee. You see, no longer have I joined a gym because I'm a bit podgy and would rather waste money than go on an all out diet, I have joined a gym because I am 'in training.'

I am in training for the first part of 'Operation: Make Money For Trek China 2008.' It's basically a sponsored walk. Specifically it is a sponsored walk across the notoriously difficult first day of the Pennine Way in the Peak District from Edale to Crowden and I am on a mission to get everybody I know involved. I've sent out emails and text messages, I've phoned people and arranged to meet several others and I do not intend to stop until everyone I know has agreed to take part and has taken a sponsorship form and a begging letter to their places of employ.

It's no great shakes. But it's a start.

Ben

Our New Years Resolution

With Christmas now behind us, New Year looming and a record amount of festive poundage gained thoughts are turning to what the future has in store and how we can make 2008 more memorable than 2007. In our case thoughts are turning to the rather ominous and ambitious aim of 'making it count' and what better way, we thought, than signing up for an expensive, possibly unachieveable and long distance trek for which we have no prior training or experience? And so it came about that we decided to go to China.

I am of course joking when I say we have no prior experience. I, for example, once took part in a 15 mile sponsored walk which saw me travel along canal towpaths, through forests, over bridges and made my feet so sore that my mum had to give me a note for PE the following day. And Fran, well, she walks so many miles whilst on the phone that we have tread marks in the carpet. But long distance walking, that's a new one and one we are going to see a lot of in 2008. That, I think, means we are going to have train...at least a little bit.

But why are we doing this and what is the blog about? I'll start with the first point first.

I can't speak for Fran (no doubt she will post later) but I personally am aiming to make a difference in 2008 and believe a charity trek for Scope is as ambitious as it is worthy. While I won't write endlessly about the great work Scope do, I will encourage anybody reading this blog to at least glance at their website which details their purpose much more eloquently than I could and read about how the charity is working to help people right now. Obviously this is a very worthy cause and one we chose because of the charitys mission and commitment to its goal of equal treatment for disabled people.

On a more selfish note I wanted to do this for health reasons, because of the personal challenge and simply to prove to myself and others that I could. The blog, which brings us to point number two, is here to let people know how we are getting on, bring awareness to our efforts and keep people involved updated.

As the new year beckons we set out on our journey to earn a not insubstantial £5400 by any means possible. It's gonna be fun. I hope you stay with us through 2008 to see why.

Ben