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First dawn
9th Dec 2011
The sun was shining as I ran along the roads of Enfield, north London, for a brisk three-mile run on a Sunday morning in June.
The following evening I was in my local gym talking to Steve Price, of Takara Belmont, discussing how I strangely enjoyed my run, as I had often complained of running to him in the past.
The marathon had been a topic of conversation for the six months previous, as Steve had run the marathon in the April with his wife for Bridge2Aid (www.bridge2aid.org).
I had always wanted to run the marathon, but had never got round to entering. It is on my list of things to do and see before I die, just after to see Tottenham win the Premier League, which many of you may laugh at the thought of, at least I would, not Daniel Levy or Harry Redknapp, have control over running the marathon.
Applying
Having had a chat in the office with a few colleagues the decision was made to contact Bridge2Aid (B2A) to offer my services to run the Virgin London Marathon to raise as much money as possible for the hard work that Mark Topley and Ian Wilson to name but a few have done over the years.
Bridge2Aid is based in Mwanza, a large, sprawling city in the north of Tanzania, right on the shores of Lake Victoria.
Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world, with many of its people living below the World Bank poverty line.
Founded in 2002 by Ian Wilson and his wife, the need for dental services and work with the street communities was clear, and in discussion with local & national government and other agencies that became the focus of B2A.
So I emailed my intentions to Bridge2Aid on how I could help promote the charity via FMC – Dentistry's Information Centre – to help raise the profile of the work done as well as help me raise money for the charity.
I received my email a day later stating I was one of six that had applied but there were only 3 places, so I was told I would have to wait until October to find out my fate.
Oh ****!
The summer months passed and the nights drew in the running stopped and football was back in my regime to ‘just' 4 games a week. It was 6 October, I was on a train on my way back from a meeting in London when I received a call from my colleague Michelle she said: ‘I've got some exciting news for you'.
My first thought was yes that proposal I sent out had confirmed, a typical salesman's reaction.
She said: ‘You've been accepted to run the marathon'
First thought was oh **** a marathon in April, I had just booked a holiday to New York the day before for the first week in March. That initial shock passed and a sense of achieving one of my goals in life presented itself.
A month or so has passed and the running has started again so has the shin splints, a long road ahead me thinks.
If you would like to show your support to me and Bridge2Aid please see the link below:
http://www.justgiving.com/James-Macdonald2
P.S you can follow my progress over the coming months on here
Author
James Macdonald
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