A much needed break...

In the run up to Good Vibrations, in fact just days before the event I lost another member of family to cancer, someone too young and had young children of his own to deserve to depart from this world so early. It made Good Vibrations tough but means that the £10,000 challenge is even more important.

It has also left me and my partner somewhat exhausted and in need of some us time to come to terms with what has happened and also just have some down time.

I have a habit of keeping myself busy to deal with sad and difficult things, I have done well doing this and the last 12 months has seen a great success in raising money, I am closer to my total than I ever dreamed after such a short time - and therefore promised myself and my loving boyfriend that I would have a break until my 30th birthday - which is August this year - reminding myself this is a life time goal, not a goal to reach before I am 30.

So, as much as I get joy and love from these events, I will be taking time out from it during the first part of this year... (no doubt coming up with ideas in my head in the mean time!)

Chris (my boyfriend) and his brother have dedicated themselves to a challenge of there own - they agreed to match like for like any money donated to Robs Dedications Page and now will be looking to raise £5000 of their own to give to Macmillan - I hope I can help along the way. But maybe not for a few months.

I will update the Good Vibrations details during this time, but holding off from any events just for now.

It's been an exlierating yet exhausting 12 months.

Miss you Dad and now miss you too Rob, I am devastated you both will miss my wedding to your beautiful brother and would have been fab son in law. xxx

Good Vibrations Raises £4000

I am still really lost for words on the success of Good Vibrations, I will write a longer blog about my favourite memories of the evening and include reviews and images taken from the night.

But I just wanted to update the page and show that we had raised a wonderful £4000 for charity that snowy evening and it still feels like a dream.

I'll be on soon to write more.

A still slightly tired Pip.

xxx

Good Vibrations in the making...

Since the pub quiz has been finished, money banked and had a few days rest I have been able to throw myself even further into the world of Good Vibrations and what a world it is! I thought it was also time I shared the start of the Good Vibrations journey with you all and what has happened along the way so far.

It has already bought to me new experiences I never thought possible, new friendships fast and thickly formed and an abundance of kindness, community spirit and warmth from all angles, giving me more than I could have ever imagined possible in a quest that I have started to keep Dad proud of me. It really is true, smile and the world smiles with you. A lot has happened, this could be a long blog, grab a cuppa...

So, it all started one night, back in the early days of the summer, when the sun was shining the nights were long – pah who am I kidding, it was probably raining, grey and a little miserable, but none the less it was the 4^th August and my two regular drinking DJ fun filled nights were coming together for a Thirsty Ear Vs Boneshaker event and boy it was FUN! The music was right up my street, there was plenty of rum on the go and smiles all round. Like I say PLENTY of rum, but yet one clear flash of the night I have is dancing, in Pip style with my eye closed, smiling away and I drunkenly thought to myself, hum this could make money for charity, interesting ... and yea there is this band, a band I saw at Tramlines, hum they’d fit in well as well....continues dancing and being in Pip land. A hungover stumble to the park on the Sunday and coffee with some friends, they suggested the same thing, “Pip this could be a charity night, reckon it would be pretty good”, I shared their sentiments and the idea of a band or two as well and they seemed keen. Again, ponders, interesting. (Listen to sample tunes from the night, trust me you'll love it!) 

I was still smiling from the night a couple of days into my 9-5 work grind and Joe (Mr Boneshaker) and I had started chatting on facebook just saying hi and sharing drunken laughs at the fun that was the night, where I threw the idea passed him, not only was he keen, he was excited, offered help with posters and knew the band personally, who I was looking to book AMAZING! Right okay, I started thinking, maybe this could work. I went for breakfast with Paulo (Thirty Ear DJ) a week or so later and he helped me thrash out all the basics, he was a man in the know, with music credentials and nights a plenty he has put on – me, I knew nothing, what is a PA system? Speakers, what do you mean you need speakers? etc. etc. he talked me through what I would need, what to expect from venues, what key questions and considerations I needed to have on my famous lists. So, I’d done a bit of ground work, talked through my ideas with family and friends, time to get the bands on board.

Joe got in touch with the one and only Johnny from Carmen Ghia and the Hotrods, a band so full of amazingness that I’d have to put them on. My first crushing blow came back after an agonising 2 weeks of waiting for a response, waving between excitement and nerves – they already had too much on, a similar night in the making and the run up to Christmas to fit in – it wasn’t going to be. The highs and lows of trying to put this on were already getting me! I am an excitable and giddy character, I smile hard, I laugh often and try and keep a positive and optimistic outlook on life – what comes with that, is if I feel sad, I feel it, I cry sometimes what feels too easily and can find myself feeling disappointed, especially when I have been so excited at something. I felt my heart sink when I got the response, I was already SO EXCITED!!!!!, about this night, I didn’t want it to not happen. A reassuring word or two from the lovely Boneshaker and we were back on track, if we do it in Jan, we have more time to promote, sell tickets and make it the best and most kick ass charity event there ever could be! Some how Joe has gone from someone DJing at the night, to being my partner in crime through this whole thing! It is a Cheshire Charity Challenge and Boneshaker production and I love it and love all the people he has introduced me too. The Armitages (Mr and Mrs Boneshaker and their 2 adorable children) are a lovely family and I cannot recommend working on a project with them enough! Their wider circle of friends have also welcomed me with open arms and are behind this project 100%, it makes me smile, almost daily, the warmth I get from this wonderful group of people.  Even if this project doesn't raise the hundreds and thousands of pounds for charity that I wish it could, I will smile that I put it on as it bought these people into my life and I hope they remain in it for years after this project is complete. 

A reassuring word or two from the lovely Boneshaker and we were back on track, if we do it in Jan, we have more time to promote, sell tickets and make it the best and most kick ass charity event there ever could be! Anyway, if I carry on in this sort of detail this blog will literally be a novel and I already have so much more to add! By the by we got Carmen Ghia and the Hotrods booked in, a venue organised, PA system quotes and some in roads to making this happen.

Along the way other bands were suggested to me, Niamh from CDHR had suggest The Roaming Son, Mark from The Roaming Son in turn suggested The Wolftones, I had friends offering me suggestions, too many bands to fill in the short amount of time we had – maybe this means there is definitely scope for Good Vibrations – Part 2!

Somewhere early on in the making we decided to thrown in a rollerderby game to the mix as well, the worlds go so well together and well being a roller derby girl any opportunity to put on a bout is a good one. The Sheffield Steel Rollergirls are facing each other in The Death Leopards vs The Steel Panthers in a pre-match to warm up for the big event on the 9^th February.

So, we had our night, what was next, promoting it and getting it out there to the world.... Read all about that in Part 2 - Good Vibrations:  What it has done for me; which is coming soon.

A new day, a new total.

Monday mornings, gotta hate them. First day back at work usually after a fun weekend, having to drag yourself out of bed is a chore and for me usually filled with a list buzzing in my head of what I didn’t achieve over the weekend. This Monday is different, I knew I would be able to come into work and update my Cheshire Charity Challenge total, yipppppeee! An achievement Yes! Feels like I haven’t updated it for a while and this morning, I get to update it by a great £402! This brings my total so far to £3702.17, not too shabby! I may get to this £10,000 sooner than I think, a life time I have set myself to do this, maybe I could change it before I am 30 (hum... this is only 9 months away, maybe that is not such a good idea haha!), 35 a bit more realistic J

The £402 has been raised through 2 things, 1 the great Riverside Charity Pub Quiz Part 2 and the help from a wonderful friend of mine Jo Sutcliffe.  A while ago Jo asked if there was anything she could do to help me raise money, I find this a hard question to answer, come to my events is the main one really – I don’t like to expect anyone to take time out to raise money for something I have set to do, why should they? Everyone has a busy life, their own priorities, their own charities or reasons to raise money. However as seen by other events; my friends triathlon, my sisters ½ marathon, other people want to get involved. I am not going to say no, anything to raise money for Macmillan and Myeloma UK, is fantastic. Some time later Jo text and suggested she did a bake sale at her work, I thought this sounded fantastic and would does she need any help. Everything went quiet for a while,  Jo has been renovating a house, plays a lot of sport and been supporting her folks at home whilst they’ve not been very well, so I understood that things must have gotten busy. A surprise text out of the blue, Jo had done the bake sale and raised over £100 in the process, AMAZING! I was so touched, knowing how BUSY Jo is, the fact she’d taken the time out to arrange this and put the proceeds to the charity, really means a lot. Jo, thank you. xxxx

So, to the pub quiz part 2! After the success of the last pub quiz I had been asked a number of times by various people would I be running another one, I kept thinking about it and was going to do a summer one, but before I knew it the summer was coming to an end! How! I had started organising Good Vibrations and the initial date was for the 10^th November, however one of the main attractions couldn’t play this date and it looked like we weren’t going to get a date in the diary until the New Year. I couldn’t wait that long to do another event, so figured as I was already free on the 10^th November, well I may as well replace it with another Pub Quiz!

I decided with everything that was going on with Good Vibrations to keep this one a bit more low key and stripped it back to the basics of cake, chutneys and a good old fashioned pub quiz. I figured although the raffle was probably one of the big earners last time, the time it took to get all the raffle prizes and then go round with all the thank you cards, was something not to add on to my already hectic schedule. I therefore found that actually, the run up to the pub quiz was okay! A lot less lists that last time! I had a quiz master; I just needed questions, cakes and chutneys ... easy!  The weeks ticked on by, I had most the questions, but not all, posters had been put up in the pub and a facebook invite went out. Off the back of this the lovely Tommy and Zac, Savills and Spoilt for Choice all donated a prize, which went into the hamper of goodies for the pub quiz winners.  Thank you!

About 10 days before I started stepping up, sorting out chutneys, planning which cakes to make and sorting out the answer sheets. The Friday night before the quiz my lovely ladies, Tara, Amy and Charlie came round and helped me make the remaining chutneys (I couldn’t face chopping any more onions!), and an abundance of cakes. You could tell we’d all been eating the cake mix; interesting dances with cake making instruments ensued. Photos will follow! My other lovely friend Gabi also bought over a tray of cakes to add to the mix, we had plenty to sell!

The day of the quiz, was calm, went to the Riverside and Chris helped me set up the room, it looked lovely, we had balloons and flowers in red and white for Dad and then the cakes were all in tins ready to be revealed in the evening.

The night came and went in a bit of a blur, the room was full, all the chairs taken, all the cakes AND all the chutneys sold! Will, Mr Quiz Master, was fantastic, I had rollergirls there, my family from Donny came over, my lovely Sheffield friends and old work colleagues all came down to enjoy the fun.  Team Wieners were the winners, followed closely by the Mr Menace and his Rollergirlz, who all enjoyed there prizes.  Everyone filtered out the room and I sat down for a well deserved drink whilst counting the coins we’d collected throughout the evening. £290, not bad for pub quiz. In fact I would say it was bloody brilliant!

Thank you to all those involved in the cake making, chutney making, jar supplies, the Riverside for the venue, Tommy and Zac, Savills, Spoilt for Choice and Flora for the prizes. Also a big thank you to those who made it down to the pub quiz and joined in the fun, without each of you, well we wouldn’t have raised any money! Esp you lovely rollergirls and boys, who had about 4 different events to fit in, in one night and still managed to squeeze the pub quiz in.  Here’s to the next one, roll on 2013!

Good Vibrations

A night in the making, bands confirmed, DJ's confirmed, venue booked, it is going to be EPIC. 

You will be able to skate, dance, buy lovely things, drink beer, listen to music, see fantastic acts doing what they do best in Lindy Hop, Skating and many more things... 

What more could anyone want! 

Keep the 26th January in your diaries free, free, free! 

News on how and when to buy tickets will be available sooner than you think and you'll want to snap them up to make sure you get one before they sell out, it is going to get busy! 

I am very excited about this night and how much awareness and fundraising  we can get for both Macmillan (http://www.macmillan.org.uk/) and Myleoma UK (http://www.myeloma.org.uk/) 

As with any of the events I have been putting together, I cannot get over how much people want to support me in my quest to make money for charity. Every time it amazes me. I have had the lovely Joe Armitage (http://boneshaker.uk.com/blog/), the awesome Thirsty Ear crew (http://thirstyearuk.wordpress.com/) and beautiful Sheffield Steel Roller Girls (http://www.sheffieldsteelrollergirls.com/) all bend over backwards to offer what help they can, where they can and back me 100% on this night and being there to make it happen!

I will be eternally grateful for this and so humbled that these people want to be part of it, when they didn't know my Dad, but no doubt have been effected in some way or another by cancer in there lives. This support really makes putting these events together, I know when there are niggles and doubts along the way I'd be close to giving up - their collective belief in me, makes me know that it is doable and to get over the hurdles, without them, well I may just give up! To all of you, thank you. 

Watch this space, it's going to get exciting! 

(oh yeah, reminder 10th November Pub Quiz Take 2, the Riverside! Be there or be square!) 

Tractor Ride - An Update

So, previous posts have explained I have two events up my sleeve...

1. Follow my Granddads footsteps and drive a tractor from John O Grots to Lands End. 
2. Following a silly conversation with my sister, doing a coast to coast on a mini tractor. (http://cheshirescharitychallenge.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/oh-dear-mini-tractor-ride-in-making.html)

Here is the update on how the planning is going for both of these...or not planning as the case maybe.

So, the real tractor ride. Well, I am trying to get a job abroad, it's been a plan of mine for years and it is close to make or break time on whether it is going to happen and if it does happen it will happen within the next 3 - 6 months. The tractor drive is going to take some planning, as I want to arrange a couple of events along the way and also requires a commitment on a date - at the moment I cannot give this. If it turns out that I do not move abroad, which is a possibility, I shall be putting a date in the diary and hope to do it in 2013. 

The mini tractor ride, well what can I say, I want to do it, SO MUCH! It would be hilarious, push a childs tractor along the coast to coast, think of the attention along the way and the money i Could raise whilst doing it! I would want people to chuck coppers into the tractor etc. Also the promise of £1,000 is 10% towards my ultimate goal, that is not something to be sniffed at. That is a significant amount and gets me a good step closer to achieving what I have set out to do. I can't turn that down... I have spoken to Andrea and she has committed to giving me the money if I do it. I figure I would need at least 10 days to do it, which means precious time off work and someone who is willing to walk slowly with me. The next step for this is to try out a mini tractor and see if my long legs will even it! I am still not sure of its feasibility, but I REALLY want to do it! 

Whilst these two events are being pondered, I am planning 2 others which I am also really excited about and can be done a bit more imminently. 

So, the return of the charity pub quiz is on its way, probably on the 10th November and I am part way through talks with the right people to put on a Retro Disco night with fab bands, DJS and more importantly ROLLER SKATES! Watch this space! 

Father’s Day – Miles for Macmillan.

So, as a fundraiser for Macmillan I regularly get emails about up and coming events I may be interested in.  Sometime in April one dropped in about doing some Miles for Macmillan, a nationwide campaign to raise £1.8million pounds this year through organised walks up and down the country (http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Fundraising/Walkingevents/MilesforMacmillan.aspx). A local walk was being organised by a fellow fundraising hero of mine, John Burkhill, a 4 or 8 mile meander around the canals and industrial parts of Sheffield, hum this is a walk I had wanted to do for a long time, being organised by a man I had wanted to meet for a long time, oh and the date, well it was organised for Father’s Day.  It was a done deal from that moment really, there was a £10 registration fee for each participant and it raised money through sponsorship.

I know sponsorship is a really valid form of fundraising and raises so much for so many causes through so many events; however, I have pestered my friends for sponsorship for years, for this race, that walk, this run, that fancy dress outfit, so when I set out the £10,000 charity goal, part of the challenge has been, for any events I do, make sure I am give something back to the people spending the money.  It also helps me try to think outside the box a little more and find new and wonderful ways to get friends and family to part with their hard earned cash.  

So, I opened the invite out to my friends, father’s day, £10, fun walk in Sheffield. I decided to cover people’s registration fee and then the £10 they paid went into the sponsorship bucket. I was hoping to get 10 of us and raise £100, in the end we had a group of 16 of us, I was so pleased my friends wanted to get involved and a lovely bunch of us it was as well.

The week in the run up to the event I was a little nervous, Father’s Day may be a little tough, made me think about Dad a lot and didn’t want the walk to be an emotional thing, I wanted it to be a celebration, a time for reflection, a nice walk out with my Mum and my friends. My Dad loved helium balloons and I have released various balloons over the last 18 months, my way of sending a message to him and decided to do the same on Father’s Day. I also got an extra special one made for the dear Quinn for a beautiful couple facing a tough Father’s Day who also joined us on the walk.   

The walk itself was lovely, spent a lot of time talking to my Mum and my friends, found a nice space to release the balloons with Poppies and Daisies and had a nice pint afterwards. I got to meet John, gave him a hug, told him his efforts were amazing and he probably thought I was a bit crazy. Even so, when he saw we were having a group picture, he came and got involved which was fab. (You can read more about Johns efforts here - http://www.justgiving.com/madmanwithpram)– Overall I was pleased with the day.

However, the reason I have found this entry difficult to sit down and write is because, I am not sure about how the walk started. It kinda put an edge to it, which has made me reconsider attending future events. There was a group welcome speech and warm up. The speech was too much. Too heavy. Too much focus on the sad. Almost felt like it was a preach to the converted and felt it was unnecessary. There was a strong emphasis on all the sad aspects of cancer and how it affects so many people and how it destroys so many lives.  It got too much and I had to walk away, I couldn’t hear any more, I know too well in a very raw way how sad it is, how it destroys families, how it leaves holes in people’s lives that cannot be filled by anyone or anything other than the person that has gone.  Then there are the people who are currently undergoing treatment, facing the uncertainty and desperately hoping to get to the point of being in remission and being able to celebrate but with the fear and knowledge that it may come back and come back worse… if they are on the walk, why do they need to hear that cancer kills X people a year, do you not think they are fully aware of that and are terrified of the potential outcome? and there’s all the people that are caring for people who are suffering at the moment or looking after friends and family who are grieving, scared of losing someone they love. Why make people relive all of that? I am sure every person who was there, knows why they are there, they know who Macmillan are.

I was told that after I had walked away, someone came on who gave a success story, one of the people that got to celebrate, which is amazing, I am so very happy that people get to do this and I imagine it is so… so…. I don’t even know what… but special… something… to be able to stand up and say, thanks to Macmillan for the support. People said it was a shame I missed the success story, I am not sure it is.  Maybe it’s all too soon still; I know I am possibly going to find this harder than some. But I wanted my Dad to be a success story, he so desperately wanted to be a success story, not getting through the treatment wasn’t an option for him. Part of what I find hardest, struggle with, guarantees to upset me, is the disappointment for him that he couldn’t beat it – obviously I do get sad for me, sad for that fact that I don’t get my Dad in my life, but sad for him, so, so sad he couldn’t do all the things he had promised and firmly believed he would do, I know he would be gutted. But anyway I digress… my point I suppose is why pull the emotional card at these events, it seems unnecessary and I suppose it seems a bit inconsiderate as people are usually there for a reason and that reason for them may be a very difficult one.

An alternative I suggest, is celebrate, have a celebratory speech, have a minutes silence for people to still personally reflect to show that you are still respecting that things are, can be, have been tough. But celebrate the nurses, celebrate the money raised and what it will help provide for Macmillan, celebrate people who are on the walk who may not be on it without Macmillan’s helps, but the key word here is celebrate, not pull on peoples heart strings for what all I felt seemed to do is make people sad. It’s sad enough.

I have fed this back to Macmillan and but I am also really interested to hear how other people find these emotional pleas for help at the beginning of events? Anyone who has done Race for Life will know it is the same there as well. I don’t get it, but maybe if others could share what they get from it and help me understand, I won’t be so against it, knowing that for some people it really helps them.

Let today be a good day...

Today is hard, I don't know if it is the backlash from a good weekend surrounded by friends, family and rollerderby... either way, I feel like things are incredibly unfair, why did Dad have to get ill, why couldn't Dad be one of the happy success stories so many others talk of, why couldn't Dad still be here with me, why can't Dad be here to give me advise and courage to do what I really want to do.

I am trying to be strong, trying to remember words and kindness from so many people since it has happened but all I want to do is scream and shout and cry...

Dads' page is still active on facebook, I often go on it and look at it, make a comment look at conversations he has had in the past. The last few times I've tried I've struggle to get to his page, today was no exception and thought it was finally over and I wouldn't be able to go to it again - this broke my heart a little bit. It seems so silly, it is only facebook, but it is a link, a way in, a way to make him still feel like he is here, even if I am totally kidding myself. I got their eventually, but I realise it may not be there forever - this makes me sad.

Yesterday was Fathers Day and we did the Fathers Day Macmillan Walk, which I will write another entry about another day, when negativity isn't so strong.

Miss you Dad. xxxx

Sheffield Walk 2012

I shall be walking this on the 17th June 2012, not only is it a Macmillan Walk but it is Fathers Day and I couldn't think of anything more apt to do on such a day.

http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Fundraising/Walkingevents/Sponsoredwalks/NorthEngland/Sheffield%20walk%20with%20John.aspx

I am currently championing getting an additional 9 people to do this with me. At £10/person that is another £100 towards my total.

John Burkhill, the man behind this walk is an incredible inspiration - he has already raised £150,000 and wants to raise £250,000. He has dedicated so much time to this and will continue to do so. I am looking forward to meeting him and more than likely embarrass myself by giving him a big hug. Here is his story and page  http://www.justgiving.com/madmanwithpram

Come and join me... it will be fun and I promise a delightful picnic as a reward.

Month of May

Things have been a bit slow of late with life admin, a flurry of hen do’s, weddings, new babies and 30^th birthday bashes keeping me busy. I’ve also had some sad news that another close family member is has been diagnosed with cancer and is now undergoing treatment, so this is another reason to keep this challenge alive and get moving with the next event. The money that goes to Macmillan will help in so many ways, here are just a few things it can do

·         £20 helps Macmillan relieve people's fears

Macmillan nurses and trained advisers on the helplines are there to answer anyones questions.

·         £40 provides support

The counsellors and psychologists support anyone living with cancer, whether they're coping with depression or anxiety or simply need someone to talk to.

·         £100 helps Macmillan reach more people

Help Macmillan be there for the two million people who are living with cancer in the UK today.

I am seeing my sister this weekend and going to discuss the Mini Tractor ride mentioned in my last blog post, it is time to start making this happen whilst I am preparing for the End to End version.

Meanwhile a fantastic friend of mine, Mark Aldridge, is doing this http://www.justgiving.com/ooaldridge and contributing all donations to Macmillan as part of the £10,000 challenge. His training is including competing in an Iron Man Triathlon! So, if you can dig deep and donate to this event.

Off the back of the success of the last pub quiz I am also considering doing this again in the summer, it won’t be as epic as the first, but I think a regular quiz could be a fantastic earner.

Oh dear, a mini tractor ride in the making

I just had this conversation with my sister on Facebook

For those of you who may not know this already, I am currently planning a End to End (up and down country the Lands End to John O Groats) on a tractor following my Granddads footsteps after he did it in the 1970s, this I believe may the start of a trial run! A smaller tractor, more leg work, less miles...


I already have some on route fundraising ideas in my head! 

The Bath Half

One of my older sisters, Kathryn and 7 of her friends (Kim, Hannah, Theresa, Ed, Mark, Gordy and David) have all rallied together to raise an amazing £500 for Macmillian and Myeloma and a further £700 for 3 other charities; Mind, Parkinsons and Alzheimers. So a FANTASTIC total of £1200 towards the £10,000 target. This is amazing news and maybe I will hit this target sooner than I ever imagined. Do I dare say it, if I make it to £10,000 should I be upping this goal to £25,000?

Here is what Kathryn had to say about this event, her training, the day and how she feels afterwards.


It all started in about September... a cheeky facebook invite went out to a group of friends:

I can't quite believe I'm doing this... but, I've already mentioned it to a few people, who are keen.

I'm proposing a weekend in the beautiful city of Bath, with a half marathon thrown in the mix. To make it more appealing, I'm also proposing a Sunday running club, which involves a little bit of training and a little bit of winter wine.

Who's in??

Before I knew it there was 10 of us signed up, with varying levels of running experience from seasoned runners to first timers and so the training began... well, the meeting up on Sundays to drink wine began, less of the running, that didn't really start until the New Year when we soon realised we had less than 10 weeks till the big day. We started clocking up the miles, with several of us meeting for long runs at the weekend. One Saturday Theresa and I went out in minus 5 degrees, we got actual ice on our chins as we were running. Although it was a beautiful morning with steam rising off the canal and bright blue skies, it turned out to be a bad idea as I picked up a nasty cough which put my training back a week or so.

I last did a half marathon in 2007 with a finish time of 2:29 (thanks Tammy!) and I was determined to train better and be faster for this half marathon. I was aiming for 10 minute miles which would have given me a sub 2:15 finish time, but I really struggled with the hills (I HATE HILLS) and interval training so wasn't making huge steps at increasing my pace. Still, I'd definitely put more training miles in for this run then any previous ones so I went in quietly confident I could make the sub 2:15 target.

On race day weekend, after a long schlep from South East London, and with a carb loading Burger King on the M4, we made it to the beautiful village of Wellow just outside of Bath where we had a massive cottage booked. It was a stunning weekend with a lovely walk in the countryside, snooze in the sunshine and civilised (read sober) carb heavy dinner on the Sat night.

Then race day arrived. It was foggy and chilly as our slightly mad taxi driver picked us up on Sunday morning for the short drive into town. We were very early, but there were plenty of other runners about and a lot going on at the charity village. The fog cleared and the sun came out as we approached the start line. I ran with 2 of the other girls up until around mile 4, it was hard staying together in the crowds, with slightly different paces. It was hot. Very hot. And with some small hills despite talk of it being a flat route (did I mention I hate hills). Miles 10 - 12 were a killer, mainly because I missed the mile 11 marker and thought I was going at snails pace and never going to finish! When the mile 12 marker game into view it was such a surprise and a wonderful sight... could I still make the 2:15 time? I saw some of my family around the course, who had come along to support me (love you guys) and this really helped me on the final stretch, I even did a (sort of) sprint finish (check out the video on marathonphotos.com) Officially my time was 2:16:58 but I had to stop for a wee at 10k so I think I can almost claim this as a sub 2:15 time. I was feeling pretty emotional when I met the guys at the Macmillan tent and was very proud of all of us and our amazing achievement. A few blisters, cuts and aching muscles but we were all in one piece and most definitely off to the pub!

I had such a fantastic time training with friends, raising so much money for amazing charities and having a long weekend away. Although it was amazing, I think our next weekend away will have more of a focus on wine than running, although I've got the bug and am raring to sign up for another one so I can properly smash the 2:15! Royal Parks anyone?? 

The day of the pub quiz....

It was finally the day, there were butterflies in my stomach and I had a whole load of nervous energy I needed to use up. The night before I had everything organised and in the right boxes, a final list (of course) of things I needed to do/pick up and made a load of tasty treats to sell. I was as ready as I ever could be and needed to get on.

First things first, a trip to Rooney’s Butchers on Eccelsall Road to pick up my raffle prize of fresh meat, a pile of sausages, steaks and eggs later, I move onto the lovely Sharrow and they had put together a beautiful hamper and wild and wonderful fruit, veg and even chucked in some cheese and chutneys – all delicately put together with ribbons and presented in a lovely box.

Next on the cards was a round trip to all my friends’ houses to pick up an array of cakes, biscuits, cakes, cookies, brownies and yes you guessed it more cakes… hum the trick now was to not eat any! Whilst I was doing this, I had people at home making posters and price lists, colouring pencils out and music on, I imagine my sister couldn’t have been happier.

So, I packed up the car with everything, including my willing helpers my sister Kathryn, my Mum and my boyfriend Chris… to the Riverside we go. Is that snow I can see?

An hour or two later the room is looking spic span, about 65 chairs had been squeezed in every space possible, walls brightened up with posters and information and I’d bought some gerberas in red and white for all the tables. They were my favourite addition to the room, gerberas are one of my favourite flowers anyway and the red and white is Dads team colours (Stoke City) – it was my way of having Dad there with us. We all settled in to a Riverside booth and had a late lunch/early dinner, lining the stomach seemed necessary.

As we left the pub the skies had opened and it was definitely sleet that was pouring from the skies, all is fine I thought it was only sleet, the rain part will soon melt it all and everyone will still make it. As we drove home the sleet definitely was turning into snow, but I was still convinced it would go away, it never sticks when I want it to, why would it now.

An hour to get ready and I was crawling the walls, anyone who knows me, knows I speak fast, in that hour I think I had clocked in at a least 1,000 words per minute and also where were Kathryn and Chris, they had gone to get cash and it was taking ages, did they not know I needed to go??? Looking outside the snow was, well definitely snow and was definitely sticking; they must just be taking it careful on the roads. Slowly but surely I was getting texts and calls from friends saying they couldn’t make it, taxies were refusing to pick them up from the height of some of the hills they live on and they didn’t fancy the 40 minute walk to the pub. Hum, I’d forgotten I was at the bottom of a very hilly valley, if we had snow, people up the hill probably already had an inch! Still, I was going no matter what, nothing was going to stop me – and yes, I was still going to wear my lovely black dress and red heals – alright I might have packed the heals in the bag, well I didn’t want the snow to ruin them now!

We eventually made it back to the Riverside, we went to the function room and awaited our guests – when I got there I was greeted with a lovely surprise from my big sister Andrea, she couldn’t make it as they had already had snow and instead when Kathryn and Chris had “gone to get cash” they had been and picked up some balloons on request from Andrea. 10 red and white balloons had been paired up and tied to the vases with the flowers and they looked just incredible.

The night couldn’t have gone better, despite the snow that continued to fall the room was packed full, every seat was taken, I couldn’t of actually fitted anyone else in, that snow I was cursing was still falling thicker and faster and had put a lot of people off, this worked in my favour as I would have been turning people away. At £2 entry per person (free raffle ticket included) it couldn’t have been a better deal, for that you got 60 questions, some music rounds and special bonus rounds which included me doing charades and Pictionary style show downs in front of everyone. My quiz master Nathan Webster was amazing, kept the crowd in check and kept it moving nicely. The cakes sold well, as did the chutneys and I am sure the raffle tickets were the bestselling item on the night. This was down to our expert sales techniques and offers you couldn’t refuse. Kathryn definitely would have won Lord Alan Sugars best seller, “Double the price, three times the chance” could be heard echoing around the room. A quick tally on the night and I’d raised an astonishing £320, my target was £200… so for a first event I couldn’t be happier!

People all began to disperse with some final cake and chutney purchases, with many words of “We had a great evening”, “when is the next one?”, “Can I have the recipe for…”. We could finally sit down and have a drink and relax – how we were going to get home we had no idea! Thankfully the Riverside said we could store everything there, so we just had to get ourselves home. We decided to walk, during the course of the evening about 4 inches of snow had fallen and so the walk home was a lot of fun, snow angels, snowball fights and running through untouched snow at every opportunity was a magical way to end the evening - wet feet and cold hands aside I had a huge grin on my face…

Losing Dad has been the hardest thing to get my head round and find I am often still trying to work it out… days like that of the pub quiz give me something to focus on and something so positive smile about in and amongst the sadness, I didn’t know how much work it would take to it do and I didn’t know if it would come to anything, but it did. Thank you to everyone involved everyone who made it through the snow and to Dad for giving me the strength to do it.

Oh and the final tally after selling the remaining cakes at work was a grand £507! AMAZING!

Planning the pub quiz...

Raffle prizes, check
Charity Buckets, check
Change, check
Invites out, check
Chutneys made – …
Chutney ingredients bought, check
Who’s baking what list, check
Pick up baking – on the day
Raffle prizes, check
Charity buckets, check
Raffle prizes, check
Charity buckets, check
Raffle prizes, check
Charity buckets, check
Raffle prizes, check
Charity buckets, check
….ARGH
..Of course, write pub quiz questions… need to check

I cannot tell you how many times, I wrote, checked, rechecked and rewrote my checklist for the pub quiz. The date was closing in, it was Jan all I had was the venue, a list of people who said they would help and a whole list of things to get done. Having never organised anything like this before, what did I even need to add to the list? Then there were the sub lists, raffle prizes, which shops in which areas could I approach? Who did I need to phone, email or see in person? Who did I need to chase? What did I need to buy? What did I need? What did I not need?....Frankly I went a little list crazy, but somehow it came together and before I knew it I had a clear list of things I needed on the day and remaining tasks. All I needed to do; was do them.

Calling upon my beautiful friends I got myself some posters made by the lovely Paul Rudeforth and Christopher Green, picked up charity buckets from Rob Turner (Local Macmillan Representative), had a day of chutney making with Amy and Paul (I have never chopped so many onions in my life!) and went on a very successful raffle prize hunt with Tara Bhatia.

Along the way I learnt how to secure a raffle prize, how to make tasty chutneys and the basics on how to run a charity event, 3 things I didn't know before and hope to use them all again in the years to come. This being my first event, it was a steep learning curve with definite moments of panic, other moments of clarity and definitely some tears along the way – both happy and sad.

The Back Story

Welcome to the  £10,000 Challenge.

I lost my Dad to Myeloma, a cancer of the blood, in Jan 2011 just weeks before his 56th birthday. He had only been diagnosed 4 months prior to this and had every fighting chance going for him to beat the cancer. Sadly during treatment he caught the flu, at the worst time he could have caught it and couldn't fight it. In those 4 days he had the flu, I have never seen anyone try harder to fight anything, he could have given up on day one but he didn't and it make me so incredibly sad, for him, that it got the better of him.  This fighting spirit has inspired me.

Throughout my Dads life he did a lot for charity in one way or another, sponsoring people, getting involved in events, even dressing up as a fairy (my Dad was 6ft 4" and of a rather large build) with charity buckets....losing Dad will have left a whole in these charities pockets and I want to ensure I pick up from where he left off and make sure this gap is not felt.

I want this to be a positive outlet for my grief and something I can use when facing sad and hard days, if I can distract myself for an hour or two organising or planning something when feeling blue, it can only be a good thing.  I have plenty of ideas brewing and been inspired by previous events my Dad has been part of and even my Granddad, ideas and events I never even knew they had done until going through my Dads belongings. To find out more about these, watch this space!

If anyone else is inspired to join and wants to do some fundraising, feel free to add get in touch on phillippacheshire@yahoo.co.uk and see if it is something we can do together/if you have an idea you want to share.

I hope to make a scrap book for this, so any stories people have on charity events Dad took part in, please please let me know, I’d love to add them!

xxxxxx