SAM SPEAKS AT ST ANN'S HOSPICE CORPORATE FUNDRAISER

Sam was asked to speak at the St Ann's Hospice Ladies Fashion Lunch fundraiser on Friday 3rd October.

She spoke in front of nearly 300 people about what St Ann's Hospice meant to her and her family, and how they helped Mike. She then went on to talk about our challenge this year and all the many ways it has created something so positive out of something so traumatic. She will reveal more of that speech when the challenge comes to an end but it was an emotive speech that touched the entire room, most of all her family and friends who were in attendance.

We were very proud of her standing up there talking about such a difficult subject and she hopes it has helped to raise much needed funds for St Ann's Hospice, raised awareness of Hospice care, and inspired others to support such a worthwhile charity too.

CAMILLA EDWARDS SWIMMING UPDATE!

Camilla has continued to swim throughout the summer for Madness 4 Mike taking part in a swim series of events. She has continued to improve as the season progressed getting placed in many events and swimming incredible distances showing her sheer grit and determination as well as her talent for open water swimming. Swimming the distances we are running is incomprehensible to the rest of the team and we are so proud of her achievements this season and grateful to her for joining the team and her contribution towards our KM count!

1st June swim in the Thames - the course was shortened to 2.7km as the current was so strong. Camilla swam this in 40mins 29sec, and was placed 16th out of 184 men and women (5th of 50 women). 

 

21st June she swam at the Great East Swim in Alton Water just outside Ipswich (5km) which she swam in 1hr17min56sec, she was 5th out off 57 women and less than 2 minutes behind first place and was really amazed by this result as there was a professional ironman triathlete in amongst those 4 ahead of her!

 

29th June she swam at a small event in a lake by the QEII bridge in Kent, 3.8km, 1hr4min20sec. Camilla was disappointed slightly with her time but was 3rd placed woman!

 

6th July was a Womens only race at Eton Dorney Lake (Olympic rowing venue), 3km which she did in 49mins 29sec.

 

26th July - Mass Start swim series swim 5km swim did in 1hr 20mins21sec. Came 4th woman! 

 

August 17th - Cotswolds 5km - 1hr 22min44sec - 1st placed woman out of about 20 and 3rd place out of 40 overall. INCREDIBLE!!!

 

August 23rd - Mass start swim series in Bedford - 10km 2hrs 54mins 44sec 1st woman out of only 3 finishers, and 2nd place out of only 9 finishers overall (they had massive drop out before the race and during the race because water temperatures had plummeted to 14C from 20 about a week ago!). That meant that Camilla won the Mass start swim series with her placings (5th, 4th and 1st places) and won free entry to all their events next year!

 

Needless to say she has earnt a well deserved rest after this season before having to do it all again, all be it for free, next year!!!

 

Well done Camilla, team Madness 4 Mike are very proud of you and thank you for being part of the challenge and raising money for such great causes!

28TH SEPTEMBER: DIRTY DASH 6K OBSTACLE COURSE KENT!

This yielded the biggest team yet from Cromwell Vet Group! Sam & Andy were gutted they had to pull out for medical reasons to ensure they remained fit and injury free for the marathon looming but the CVG did them so incredibly proud! Most members had never done anything like this before and the whole course was a huge muddy test of physical strength and fitness, mentally overcoming fears and thoughts of being unable to do it and all of them finished and completed the course - somewhat battered and bruised at the end!

The team consisted of Ben Wright and his housemate Nick Adcock who have both also raised money for our challenge by cycling from London to Cambridge - despite the KM not being part of the challenge we were hugely touched that they elected to raise money for our cause and can't thank them enough for putting themselves through such a long and gruelling cycle!  The rest of the team were Lauren Macpherson, Rebecca Falconer, Kim Sacker, Amanda Jakins, Chris Jakins, Jen Bradley & boyfriend Zak Single, Kelly Lander.

A report from one of the team members will follow soon, until then be amazed at these photos!

LATE ADDITION: 13TH JULY THE WALES MARATHON

Another late addition to the blog but that is also very much deserving of a mention. Maxine Sandels completed her first marathon on the above date. She had entered a marathon in 2013 but in the end had to retire due to a stress fracture shortly before the event. The beautiful but hilly route traversed the south of the country finishing in Tenby where Maxine's family and boyfriend Alex were waiting and supporting her over the finish line.

She finished this massive distance in an amazing time of 4 hrs 20mins and her version of events will be below shortly...

 

And I pretty certain she looked this glamorous all the way around!

Maxine's account of running a MARATHON!

"I have achieved the pinnacle of my running career after completing the hardest but most fulfilling run I will probably run in my life after completing the Tenby marathon on Sunday 23rd July. Running a scenic marathon by the coast, the weather held out however the number of hills were a challenge. The hills just kept on coming and the most challenging one was a 17% gradient hill at 23miles (grown men have seen to be crying up this one)!! Overall I am overwhelmed to have completed this marathon and it to contribute to such a fantastic cause. Keep running team!!"

LATE ADDITION: 28/29th JUNE ENDURE 24!

The team here called themselves FOOL RUNNINGS! It consisted of Mark Lumb, David Baker, Laura Thompson, Andrew Platts, and Lee Aye. The 5 of them embarked on laps of a challenge that certainly lived up to their team name! Between them they took it in turns to do 5-mile-laps of the same course over a 24 hour period, they divided the number of laps and timings between themselves all completing 5-6 laps each. They completed 29 laps in 24 hours totalling a massive 145 miles or 232KM ! A massive contribution to Madness 4 Mike and a huge challenge for them. They napped in between laps camping in the pouring rain and to get cold, then have to run again is a misery nobody would want to endure, especially repeatedly for 24 hours!

Hats off to every team member and their support crew Helen Locke & Victoria Lumb for keeping them going and helping them through it.

14TH SEPTEMBER 2014: BOURNE 10K

Sam's work colleagues again joined force to complete the Bourne 10K. A remarkably hilly route for Cambidgeshire and mostly off road. It was a tough course but Sam, Andy, Bridget Adcock, Simon Moore all finished in under 1 hour! PBs for all of us, Sam & Andy 54mins 49secs - for a tough course we were pleased with this as felt we could do even better on a flatter road course!

Rachel Moore, Esther Moore & Hannah Moore all took part in the 3K event - the longest distance for a fun run yet! Hannah & Esther in fancy dress too which made the race extra challenging (but more fun)! All finished well before the 10K runners to cheer us in!

7TH SEPTEMBER 2014 THE GREAT NORTH RUN

The Great North Run 2014 was set to be a fantastic event. It was due to have it's millionth finisher and the event organisers had pulled out all the stops ensuring it was a great event! The team consisted of Sam & Andy, Helen Gemmell, Steven Crowe, Sophie Anderson & Vicky Anderson (who's mum was also cared for by St Ann's Hospice), Andrew Mundy, Mark Elder, Helen Locke, David Baker, Amanda Jakins and Chris Jakins. It was the first ever half marathon distance event for Andy Kent, Helen Locke, Amanda & Chris Jakins and the whole team finished and did us proud.

The atmosphere was incredible, the crowds were present all the way along supporting the runners with bands at nearly every roundabout and entertainment along the way. The runners also at the start added to this by shouting "Oggie Oggie Oggie" to a chorus of "Oy Oy Oy!" as we ran under the first 2 bridges at the start of the course. It made the run officially the first enjoyable one of the year! It turned out to be a sunny and hotter day than was ideal for running this distance but we all coped and made our way to the finish line.

Amanda especially did herself proud, 6 months earlier she struggled to run even around the block, and only 2 months earlier completed her first ever 10K event! Chris & Amanda travelled the furthest for this event too all the way from Cambridge and the team were hugely proud of them, and glad they were a part of it. The other first timers also did themselves proud finishing in times they were happy with and in one piece!

Help the Hospices had a tent in the charity village and were fab at looking after their runners at the end. Pam & Malcolm Mundy (Mike's brother) were there in support of the event cheering us on and enjoying the atmosphere. Malcolm for medical reasons was upset he couldn't take part this year, but he is well experienced with the course and gave sound advice, having completed the Great North run every year for the last 15 years! An achievement that Mike was very proud of and would declare in any conversation when running was mentioned!