Throughout this year I am going to be fundraising for the Amani Children's home in Tanzania. These fundraising events will include running half marathons, sponsored bike rides, and climbing Mt Kilimanjaro in September.
Amani Children's Home takes care of orphans and street-children at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. It rescues children from malnutrition, homelessness, and abuse. Amani supports over 140 children and is committed to providing a safe place for children to grow in mind, body and spirit.
Amani really is a fantastic charity. Unlike a large, international charity that has fundraisers sitting in offices writing adverts back in London, Amani is a small, grass-roots charity that is making a huge difference. Amani adheres to strict accounting standards which are overseen by the international trustees of the charity. At Amani a little really does go a long way. Here are just some of the figures:
$20 (£12) - Feeds one child for one month
$50 (£28) - Provides medical care for one child for one year
$150 (£83) - Pays complete primary school fees (tuition, fees, uniform, school lunch, etc.) for one child
$348 (£178) - Provides full care for one child for a year (school, clothing, food, medical care, and counseling)
As well as climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in September I will also be donating all cost of my SEO site audits over the next few weeks, so please help support my charity.
And I'll let you know how things go in the lead up to the BIG CLIMB!!
****Update 17/07/2007****
BUPA 10K - The result: 53mins 20sec
So I completed the BUPA 10K in Hyde Park on Sunday 15th July in 53 minutes and 20 seconds, coming in at position 1608, in which, I am told 10,000 people took part in! So I'm very happy with myself, even if a little stiff in the legs. I managed to get around in the time I wanted and considering I couldn't train as much as I would have liked I am pleased with the run.
I was a little concerned with the weather forecast for the day as it was forecast showers - and I wasn't particularly looking forward to running in the rain - I did bring a spare set of clothes just in case. But... the weather was great, and the run around Hyde Park was very nice. I'd never been there before and so was nice to have a look around as I ran. I am glad the race wasn't any later as a couple of hours after the run there was thunder and lightening, and that wouldn't have been fun!
Running a 10K course rather than a half marathon felt completely different, I realise that it's only half the distance; but I mean that when i ran a distance in miles I would always convert it back in to kilometers, so if I had 2 miles left to go I would work that out to be at least 3 kilometers - which seemed, to me anyway, longer as it was a higher number.
Anyway, running the course I did a pretty good pace and passed each marker feeling pretty good. I had a but of a tired few moments at 6K and again at 8 but managed to push on. The last stretch though was a bit of a killer! Once I passed the 9K all I wanted to do was walk the remainder - but obviously couldn't as there were people everywhere cheering us all on. So I pushed on and on, and made it to the finishline - phew!!
****Update 20/05/2007****
Jersey Half Marathon- 1hr 53mins
So this time round I was a little slower than the Hastings half but still pretty respectable I reckon. All through the race I was feeling tired and I think I could have trained a little harder and worked on my fitness as that seemed to be what let me down.
The course was a gradual climb for the first 11 miles and then a big drop and flat for the last mile. The weather was good for it, sunny with a breeze so that nice. I think in total there was just over 500 runners, which was a lot less thasn the Hastings race and I reckon that might have been part of the reason I ended up running a slower time.
I think at the start I was trying to keep pace with the higher quality runners as they were who I started the race near, as apposed to Hastings where there were alot more runners and I started with the people who were running at a pace I could deal with.
Saying that I did do the first 6.5 miles in 51mins, so I am happy with that. But after that I kept needing to slow right down and every half a mile or so. But it was only my second half marathon and I'm still trying to sort out a proper training schedule to fit in with work and stuff.
I did wake up with aching legs on Monday though and stairs are giving me a bit of a problem! But I'm slowly recovering.
Jersey is a great place to visit, everyone was really nice there and its a beautiful island. I went for some walks along the coast which changes between long sandy beaches and rugged coastlines - if your into watersports this is the place for you. I definitly recommend it as a place to visit.
To put it bluntly I feel like I have been hit by a bus!!
I managed it in though in 1hr 51mins which I am happy with. There were hills for the first 10 miles which were killer - I only thought there were hills for the first 5 miles, so that came as a bit of a shock. Towards the end my sore knee was playing up badly. I was fine going down hill and on the straights, but after 8 miles it was agony going up some of the hills.
I think I could make a much better time if I there were a couple less hills. I even had enough energy to sprint over the finish line! But I'm paying for it today, hobbling round Brighton, and any stairs are a killer. :-(
At least now know what to expect and I think I could shave 10mins at least from my time. I will definitely do another half marathon, its a good test of stamina.
So now I'm resting up and recovering, and deciding what to do next hmm..
