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Fentons Solicitors LLP are delighted to nominate The Spinal Injuries Association, Headway, and Brake as our three nominated charities for the next two years.
The Spinal Injuries Association offers invaluable support and advice to the victims of spinal cord injury throughout the UK regardless as to how the injury occurred.
Headway the Brain Injury Association, provides information, support, and services to the victims of brain injury their family and carers.
Brake the Road Safety Charity, cares for people bereaved and or affected by serious injury in road crashes, and campaigns to prevent death and injury on our roads.
HITTING THE WALL FOR SIA
By Matthew Corby (Solicitor)
Its 10.00 am on Friday 21st March 2008, Good Friday....It feels like everybody is getting ready to enjoy a holiday weekend. That is everybody except me. I want to go out for the day, a few beers perhaps. But I can't. I've got the London Marathon in precisely three weeks and two days and this weekend is the last opportunity to get some serious miles in before the wind down period. Running has dominated the last couple of months and the last thing I want to do is go on a 20 mile training run all too quickly followed by another one on the Bank Holiday Monday but a lot has gone into this and I'm all too aware a lapse in training now will be costly so its down with the muesli, in with the I-pod, on with the trainers and off I go for three hours....bliss!
I wouldn't call myself a runner as I haven't ran regularly over the last few years, but for most of my adult life I have enjoyed keeping fit either in the gym or through playing football or other sports. I decided to do my first longer run nearly two years ago just after my Dad was diagnosed with cancer. He struggled with the illness for ten months before sadly passing away . The period during which he was ill and his death were devastating for me and the rest of my family.
It is hard to put your finger on exactly why some people start running when they encounter difficult periods in life, but for me, during that horrible period, running gave me some time to straighten things out in my head, and provided an outlet for negative feelings. Another part of it is that running, and raising money for charity, made me feel more positive about things: even though I knew running would not improve my family's situation it definitely felt as if I was doing something worthwhile.
That first race I did was a half marathon, The Great North Run. I entered with my wife, Kate, my sister, Anna, and her partner. We raised money for Myeloma UK. After that I immediately entered the London Marathon 2007.
Before running the half marathon I would say that I already had a reasonable to good level of fitness and, although preparing for the half marathon was an effort, I only needed to do a few training runs before I felt ready. The marathon, however, was a big step up and the training schedule was tough. I stuck with it and managed to complete my first marathon in just under three and a half hours.
I thought last year's London marathon would be my first and last, but, its addictive, and a few weeks after I had finished I was looking for the next challenge. When the opportunity presented itself to run in the London Marathon 2008 for the Spinal Injuries Association, a nominated charity of Fentons Solicitors. I decided to put myself on the line again with the aim of both raising money for the charity and trying to beat my time.
I began training in mid January approximately three months before the marathon, which, according to the experts is about enough time for someone with a reasonable level of fitness, to get in the sort of condition required to run 26.2 miles. I tried to run three or four times a week with some rest days. The training is undoubtedly the hardest part of the whole experience; my low point was probably the Easter weekend - see above. I managed it though, and if I hadn't, I would have kicked myself - if you don't stick to the plan you won't achieve your goal. Simple as that.
A constant worry throughout the training period is getting an injury. Overtrain and you get an injury and you can't train. Get an injury two or three weeks beforehand and you'll most likely be out. You can minimise the chances of injury by sticking to a training plan that is realistic but a lot of its just down to luck. I suffered two separate injuries, which hampered my training this year but fortunately they recovered sufficiently for me to be able to run. Others I know have been less fortunate and have had to pull out at the last minute, which must be the worst after having come so far with the training.
The upside of the training is the diet. If you like your food, which, let's face it, most of us do, the training required means you can eat pretty much as much of the right foods (chicken, pasta, potatoes and the odd bar of chocolate) as you like...and you simply won't put on weight. I guarantee it. My training philosophy is that if you're running 40 miles plus per week, food is fuel!
As well as training there's fundraising to get to grips with. I pledged to raise £1500 for the Spinal Injuries Association, which I knew would not be easy. I am not very comfortable when it comes asking people for money, like a lot of people I suppose, but, when it's for charity asking/pestering is easily justified and it's absolutely necessary in order to raise any amount of money, more so 1500 quid. I wrote to contacts of the firm and received about £400 in donations. Friends, family and colleagues gave a lot more than I had anticipated and a few days before the race I reached my target. Along with sponsorship donations came many messages of support. All this adds to the event and works as a motivator but it also creates some pressure: the thought of not finishing and letting people down did cross my mind once or twice.
A combination of all the training and not doing much made February and March feel like long months but Marathon Sunday finally arrived and at about 8.00am on Sunday 13th April I'm sat on the train at Charing Cross station headed for the red start at Greenwich. The atmosphere in the carriage is tense. The train is very busy but nobody's saying much. I don't think itss that people are worried about not finishing - its more that you know it's the marathon, the race you've trained for. You're going to try and do as well as you can; you will be running for a long time and you know at times it will hurt and there's nothing you can do except wait for it to start. You just want to get some of those 26.2 miles under your belt.
About three hours later I'm running across Tower Bridge. Just under halfway. The support is amazing all over the course but that part is probably my favourite. The crowd must be five or six deep on both sides there and the cheering is deafening. It gives you a much needed lift and even though I'm in the zone I can't resist a smile. At that point I'm running well and feeling good but I know that the worst is to come... An hour later I'm on about mile 21 and I've officially hit the wall. My calves ache badly with each stride and there's an unusual feeling in my right thigh. I'm praying its not the start of cramp. I've slowed down. I was overtaking and now I'm being overtaken. I notice the giant figure of James Cracknell go past me. I try to hold on but I gradually slip further and further behind and then I can't see his head anymore. Five miles to go, and I still reckon I can get to the end in 40 minutes, but when you're that tired a minute seems like ten and ten like an hour. I keep going and reach the 24 mile mark - not long now. The crowd shout at you to keep going - tell you there's just a bit more to go and before I know it I've done a right turn and I'm sprinting, alright shuffling, as fast as I can, up Horse Guards Parade to the finish line with 3 hours 6 on the clock. Done it!
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