London Marathon

I have to confess I had never heard of J-U-M-P, until Christie came to our office to tell us more about the shipping company she works for (we export stuff to China and Congo). I remember it distinctly, as Christie was telling us about J-U-M-P, I was sliding down in my chair hoping that my boss wouldn’t mention that I was doing the London Marathon! It’s not that I didn’t want to do it for charity, I just wasn’t confident in my ability to actually finish it, and then I wouldn’t get any sponsor money.

After Christie had left I had a look at the website, and it just seemed like such a fantastic idea for a charity, so many other charities get involved with finding cures. That’s great, but it doesn’t help the families who have lost, or are losing a child to a particular illness - whereas actually providing the memories of that child and remembering their time with us is so much more precious.

I’ve always wanted to do the London Marathon; on the TV it always looks like fun!!!! So after years of trying to get in I finally did… April 2007. However, I’m not what you might call a ‘proper’ runner, I just like going running, 1. Because it keeps me healthy, and 2. It means I can eat the cakes and brownies that I like baking!! So, as a ‘run-to-eat-cakes’ kind of runner, you see my reason for worrying that I might not finish!

After much deliberation, and several temper tantrums whilst out on training runs (I swear my husband must be a saint!!) I decided to stop being a chicken, and do the marathon for J-U-M-P. It did help that there was a guy doing it in slow motion, so I figured I wouldn’t be last!! It also made me knuckle down to some more ‘serious’ training – the kind of distance I would only ever consider doing in the car. The number of pubs we went past was enough to make you weep!!

So, after months of training, the day came and went (not quite THAT quickly), and it was an experience I hope to repeat – yes, really!!! I also hope that it has made a lot more people aware of J-U-M-P, the support and the generosity of everyone who donated certainly suggest that it has.

Nikki Griffiths.