Everyone should be lucky enough to have a wide enough circle of friends who will be there for you at different times in your life. There are those friends who will cook you a meal if you have had a bereavement; those who will come and hold your screaming newborn so you can have a rest; those who will drop everything and help you in an emergency and then there are those who go to extraordinary lengths to help you through a challenge in your life.
My mate Jonny deserves a medal as he has seen it as his personal goal to get me ready for running the Tel Aviv half marathon in 3 weeks time which I am doing to raise money in memory of my Mum. Come rain, snow or hail he has been there at 7am on Sunday mornings, banging on my front door, dragging me through the streets and encouraging me to keep up with him and run. He has advised me how far I should be running each week in training, insructed me to buy running gloves and a hat to get me through the winter, encouraged me that it's all for a great cause and entirely ignored the hatred that I felt for him in the early weeks. With no goal of his own in terms of a forthcoming run he has helped me purely for the fun of it.
It was by seeing him run the London marathon a few years ago that inspired me to run, and so a few months after the birth of A&E and with plenty of weight to lose I took up running with Jude (Jonny's wife). Under his instruction we built up speed and stamina and ran a 5k and 10k together. As Jude had a hip injury and couldn't run anymore I felt inclined to stop too, but then Jonny took over and took me on as a challenge.
He complains that I moan too much, blow my nose too often and chat too much.
I complain that he runs too fast, spits too often and makes me go too far.
Having said all of this I know I owe so much to him. Last Sunday we ran 11 miles together - well almost together - and now I know that I will be able to achieve my goal.
11 miles - it's a really long way to go for a friend - thanks Jonny - you're a star!
If you would like to support my cause please see the fundraising page:
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