First of all I want to thank Nicola at www.monkeyfacemurals.co.uk for making me a beautiful medal hanger to house all the medals I have won to date. Anyone who knows me know I am very particular (picky!), and it has taken me many months to find something that's just me. I can highly recommend Nicola, she's so helpful and only too happy to help if she can. Here's the finished item with a hook left free for my VLM medal:
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| Made by www.monkeyfacemurals.co.uk |
Next I'd like to thank Julie Talbot of Junction Hair and Beauty in Witney, Oxfordshire, for her very generous sponsorship. Julie runs a thriving hair and beauty salon with highly skilled technicians, and if you're ever in the area, she's definitely worth looking up. She was responsible for getting my skin in good condition for my wedding, although she'd have her work cut out for her right now as stress and training has made me resemble a teenager in the skin department!
My next thanks goes to Sarah and John Ward, who so generously gave up their time to help me organise a fundraising evening for my charity, Mind. Without that fundraiser I wouldn't have reached my target so easily, and thus been able to concentrate fully on the running side of things. Sarah has always been supportive of me, and I hope she knows how grateful I am to her for that kindness.
Logically then it follows that the next person I want to thank is my mother in law, Sonia Bartlett. It was watching Sonia battle breast cancer in the first place that made me wonder if I could run a Race For Life in her honour, and look where that ended up! Sonia comes up regularly and watches the children for me so I can go training or for a sports massage or whatever I need to do at that time. She has always championed me, and her never ending belief in me is incredible.
I'd also like to thank my parents, Cathy and And Black, who have also helped to look after the children so my husband can accompany me to races without having to have 3 small children in tow. I've always said I want to run VLM because I want to make my mum proud after being such a let down the rest of my life.
Janice Cook has also been lovely to me, providing a lot of the entertainment for my fundraising evening, sponsoring me, and generally just making me feel like she's got my back. Thank you to you too Janice.
My transformation from someone who runs a bit to a serious runner is largely down to my trainer "TT", Tim Taylor. I met Tim over 3 years ago when I was introduced to him through a mutual friend, Sue Woollett, and despite minimal contact with him over the years, I knew he was the right person to take me from recreational runner to marathoner. I was not wrong. I am able to contact him most of the time for emotional or practical support, depending on whether I am struggling to fuel up or just how far I should run that particular day. He has devised me a training plan that has transformed me as a runner. He is endlessly patient (very important when working with me!), knows everything you could want him to know about nutrition and training, and has become a good friend over the weeks. I should probably also thank his wife here too as she's generously allowed me to "borrow" him at weekends when a long run has gone badly and I need to debrief. Thank you Gin.
From one Tim to another, my GP Dr Tim Baker has always believed that I have the ability and tenacity to run a full marathon, and is always on hand to provide support when necessary. He's been my doctor for 13 years now, and has seen me through many darker days, along with my happier moments. He will be providing medical support at the VLM with his St John's Ambulance team, and I will be happy for him to share in my greatest achievement.
I owe a massive thanks to my husband Larry Higgs, with whom I sat down all those months ago and discussed whether he would be happy to support me should I get a place on the Mind team to run VLM. Every Sunday he takes the reins and looks after the children so I can do my long runs. Initially I was out for 2 hours, but these days I can be out for as long as 6 hours and he never begrudges it. He takes me to my races because I don't like driving when I'm exhausted afterwards, and always looks away when the bank statement comes in and there is payment for yet another running related thing on it! He also listens to me prattling on about intervals, fartleks, tempo runs, different fuelling methods and the like, and doesn't moan about the fact I am probably quite boring at times! I hope to be a good example to our children Benjamin, Samuel and Jessica, and want to inspire them that they can do anything if they want to enough.
I must thank the lovely Amanda Taylor and Alexa Hawkins-Bell who took a gamble on me and gave me a place in the VLM 2015 Mind team that made this whole journey possible. I can never thank you enough for enabling me to not only take part in a long-held dream of mine, but also to run for a cause that is so close to my heart.
Finally, my thanks go out to people who have particularly been there for me, especially since I have been struggling with my demons so much recently. These people include, but are not limited to, Jane Robson, Sarah Colburn, Sue Woollett, Caroline Loach, Michelle Freeman, Sue Walker, Jo Baker, Rachel Harber, Sarah-Jane Nutting, Katherine Wilson, the NWR ladies, the RMR girls, Holly Parkin, the Mind team, and if your name isn't mentioned but you're reading this, thank you to you too.
"She believed she could....so she did!"
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