15 April 2008
15th April 08
By Harriet Moss
In another attempt to “get fit”, running the London Marathon was mentioned to a friend as a joke - after all, I could only run for 15 minutes without having to stop and fall to the ground in a heap, how could I possibly do something like this? Not expecting to get in I applied, and 18 months later here I am!
I am not a runner, I love many sports including swimming, climbing, walking and sailing but this is a phenomenal challenge for me. When I found out about the Ellen MacArthur Trust I realised that this challenge is nothing compared with the brave fight for life these children face, and how lucky I am to be healthy enough to be able to live my life without worrying about when the next hospital appointment is or what treatment is coming up next or indeed, how awful I am feeling. I could never imagine what that would be like, and I don’t think many of us could.
My family have always enjoyed sailing. Some of my earliest memories are from when my brother, sister and I were pushed out onto the river to fend for ourselves, which gave us so much confidence but above all, loads of fun. There is never a dull moment when taking to the water and the countless stories that emerged always brought smiles to our faces. Whether it is dinghy sailing or tall ships sailing I have always enjoyed the sense of freedom it provides. This must be the perfect tonic when recovering from illness.
I have always had loads of respect for Ellen MacArthur, setting herself new challenges all the time and working hard to achieve them, showing incredible guts and strength and doing better than the blokes! How wonderful that she is using her talents to help these children. I often think of them, and of the immense amount of support I have had from my family, friends and the guys at the Ellen MacArthur Trust if I start struggling on my training runs, and it really helps keep me going. I have been pounding the streets of Birmingham for 6 months now and am really enjoying it. Training has mainly been in the evenings after work and at weekends, and running into work once a week too.