Skip to main content

And folks, that's a wrap

Last week I had the privilege to be invited to the Anthony Nolan Supporters' Awards.

It was emotionally charged; a night chock full of remembrance, celebration and pride.

We heard about the volunteers that keep the organisation ticking. We heard all about the scientists behind some of the advancements in Anthony Nolan's care.

 We heard from survivors, celebrities, and about some extraordinary people doing extraordinarily selfless things.
One of the stories we heard was from a parent of a child that had been saved by an Anthony Nolan donor.

 She spoke bravely about the fight they'd had, the moment her son was diagnosed, and the relief she felt when they found a donor.

 The young man who had joined the register and saved a life was in the room at the ceremony, beaming from ear to ear.
The applause was deafening, and tears ran freely down the faces of many of the onlookers.

 The story was Rupert's, and you can check it out here:
Boy, 10, meets his 'superman' life-saver, BBC News

It was a really powerful moment.

One person had completed a simple sign up to the donor register, and it ended up saving a life.

I've come to the end of this 12 month fundraising challenge, and I'm so proud.

We've added nearly 10 people to the list of eligible matches through contacts and word of mouth.

[It could have been closer to 20 but unfortunately we're all getting on a bit, and Anthony Nolan weren't too keen on those grey hairs we're growing, and a few people who tried weren't able to join!]

We've nearly raised enough money to pay for another 50 donors to join the register, a shade under £2000.

The original target was £1000, but I soon had to stretch it out thanks to the generosity of you wonderful readers.

We hit £1500 and I stretched it again.

Then I started to run out of friends, colleagues and family members.

Never mind!

 That money will make such a difference to someone, somewhere at some time, and I am so pleased we've helped.

Thinking back to when I started off this journey with a 5 mile warm up, I could never have imagined some of the sights I'd see, the things I'd do, and the challenges I'd face.

Let's take a very quick look in numbers:

      0 - The number of events I was looking forward to
      2 - Completed ultra-marathons this year
      7 - the height (in metres) of that bloody jump into water that I'll never forget
    10 - kilometres, the furthest training run I managed to complete back in March
    22 - miles; the first "big" event, an obstacle run, the famous Dirty Weekend
  150 - the approximate number of miles that I've run, jogged, walked in the races
  200 - the 3 day mountain biking coast to coast, The Crossing, covered 200 miles
2652 - the number of miles of driving we've done to get to and from these events

I'll kind of miss doing the updates, the start line nerves, and the early-in-the-race-lack-of-training regret.

 I'll miss hearing what the money raised is doing for the charity from the super-encouraging Megan from the AN Events team, and I'll miss the motivation factor of making a difference.

As I mentioned before - but it bears repeating - my wife has been incredible, following me round the country and popping up unexpectedly en-route for a heart warming hug and a bright and reassuring word in my ear to help me on my way. An absolute diamond.

It's been a blast.

Thousands and thousands of feet of ascent and descent across some of the UK's beautiful national parks.

8 big, tough, multi-terrain events. 11 medals hanging as memories on my wall.

One seriously proud and grateful Anthony Nolan fundraiser.

Thanks for your support x

Instagram: philvsnature
Twitter: @PhilJ0606

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1st Re-Birthday

For those new to reading this and anyone else who isn't aware, Kate is the superstar and the inspiration behind this series of testing events I've completed in aid of Anthony Nolan. Back in December, Kate wrote a really poignant blog post introducing us into her world since diagnosis, how she coped with her diagnosis, and the treatment she'd had - if you'd like to catch up then you can find it here . Since then she's been busy; you may have seen her on TV, the radio, in national newspapers, on magazine front covers, and guest speaking at conferences. There was also a top 10 most viewed spot on the BBC news homepage, and through all the attention she's been going about telling a really difficult story all with dignity and good humour that everyone who knows her would expect, and that everyone who doesn't would be amazed at. The Spot Leukaemia campaign from Leukaemia Care has pushed her experience into the public eye, and t here's been quite a lot f...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ultra Tour of Edinb-AAAARGH

Modern Edinburgh is said to have been built on 7 hills. Having run around it, I think the original town planners must have run out of counting fingers at their final construction meeting. "Let's just call it 7." The first upward slope I encountered was when I arrived at the very bottom of the Royal Mile about 6.30 am, and began the slow walk up to the start line with my wife. We were overtaken by a power-walking Lycra clad lady, and then immediately after that by a slightly older man as he ran up the pavement ahead of us. Both had race numbers on, and both looked rather more sprightly than I did. We arrived at the start line in good time, which gave me plenty of opportunity to size up the opposition. First question on my mind was: why is everyone in t-shirts? [Also, why do they say 55 km when the route is actually 57? False advertising!] Second question: which footwear do I need? Third and final: who is going to be at the back with...
Post a Comment
Read more