Sunday 19th May - Hackney Half Marathon 2019.
Half Manor Half Marathon #1, done.
All four of us struggled, but all four of us pushed through and all four of us finished.
Some of us with personal bests too which is a lovely little sense of achievement, not to mention a goal to beat next time. For yes, as we’ve already discussed, and there shall be a next time.
But the sense of achievement didn’t just come from finishing the race, it came from the why we ran it, the aim to raise some money for some great causes on behalf of some truly amazing and special people close to our hearts.
The target was £5000 (which most of us thought pretty unrealistic to begin with) on behalf of our four said people, for The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, and The Forever Friends Appeal. And through some constant badgering, and lets not forget a pretty fucking great pub quiz, we made it, and then some!
As of right now we’ve currently raised £6190!
With gift aid that’s £7370 to be split between our three charities.
Over seven thousand pounds!
Jon, James, Rupert and I were all receiving emails simultaneously every time someone donated to the page, and to say that we were overwhelmed by the response is in no way an exaggeration. It was genuinely exciting every time our email tones went off, to open up and see how far the latest donation had taken us.
It was heart warming and extremely humbling, because everyone donated so generously. And that doesn’t just mean those who gave some pretty eye popping figures, it also means those who don’t necessarily have much themselves but still gave what they could to support us and our causes anyway. Plus those that donated prizes for the quiz (not to mention The Cambria for hosting) which alone raised just over £800 in one night, and that was attended by a lot of people who had already donated on the page.
The support on the day too, not just from the crowds but from the friends and family that came to support, and all the messages we received before the start line certainly helped push us round.
It’s been a great experience for all of us, not just in the running training, but in the satisfaction of doing something a bit more meaningful. And sure not every event we do together from now on will be for a cause necessarily, but it just goes to show what can be achieved when you set your mind to it, ask for some help, and have a great network of the best people supporting you.
We now have the memories of the day and of the hard work that lead up to it, and of those we did it for, that will last a life time.
The page is still live, and you can still donate if you haven’t already and feel like it.
But for now, on behalf of James, Jon, Rupert, myself, and the other half of the manor; on behalf of the charities we ran for; and on behalf of the parents we ran it for, including my beautiful Mum, and my wonderful Step-Dad:
Thank You x
#harrisonthehand