Running in the London Marathon has been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember. But every year I lazed in the comfort of my bed on a certain Sunday morning in April watching in awe at the 1000's of people running the event thinking "wow wouldn't it be great to do this & what an achievement it would be" and never actually doing anything about it. So after watching the 2013 marathon I finally decided to do something about it and entered into the ballot for 2014 & was totally gobsmacked to see a "You're In" magazine appear through my letter box in late September! 

I had a mixture of emotions, from shock to utter excitement and then to pure dread as to what lay ahead of me in the way of training etc. I have never considered myself a runner & always made poor excuses not to take it up, but there was no way I was going to let this fantastic opportunity to slip me by so my training has begun in earnest & I am now out there 4 times a week building up the miles. So on 13th April 2014 I shall be waiting on the start line (alongside my hubby Tony) with the 26.2 miles ahead of me.

The reason I have chosen to run for St John's Ambulance is to try and raise funds to support the fantastic job all the volunteers do. 

Not only do they give up their spare time providing first aid at thousands of local events they also provide support to the emergency services at major incidents. Two of these being the London bombings in 2005 and the major floods of 2007.

At the London bombings  they provided more than 120 volunteers and staff, 37 ambulances, 20 mobile treatment centres and numerous specialist vehicles, to support the London Ambulance Service, where they remained at the three underground stations affected by the bombings, for five days, 24-hours-a day, to provide care, treatment and support to all the underground rescue teams and other workers.

In addition SJA also teach first aid to people - 800,000 people alone last year.  These skills can make the difference to a life being saved or lost in an emergency.  They are an invaluable service in the UK that many other countires are not lucky enough to have as they receive no government funding and many of the events that we enjoy would not be the same without their selfless volunteers.

I really appreciate you taking the time to visit my fund raising page & any amount donated will be very gratefully received to help SJA continue with their wonderful work.  Thank you, Bev

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