Dear Friends,

Earlier this year the thought of running 200 metres to catch a bus was unappealing to me. But always one for a challenge and a laugh I decided to try running in a competitive road race this year. So two days ago, after a few months of training, I ran a 21.1km Half Marathon race in Yokohama, Japan. And at the same time I raised, along with your kind and generous help, approximately 1,500 GBP in total for Sightsavers International charity.
The race went well, it was a fast and steady field of runners. Before I knew it the 10km mark was upon me, then in a flash the 13km mark, then I admit I lost my focus slightly, slowed down a touch between 14-18km, then knowing the end was in sight managed to recover. And as I rounded the last corner, seeing the finish line ahead, I even tried a slightly pained sprint for the line. It seemed to go very fast, and was over relatively painlessly. Quite easy really was my overall thought of it.

As I ran I tried my best to enjoy the run and look around at my surroundings, such as they were – mostly warehouses and expressway underpasses of Yokohama port side. Running along side of me were some blind runners, running with a friend assisting them. It impressed me greatly. These runners yesterday were not letting their blindness stop them from running, they were an inspiration to me. And also as I ran beside them, thinking this over, I thought of all the sponsorship that I have raised along with your generous help which will go a long way to helping Sightsavers undertake their work in the developing world, helping people with operations to restore their sight, buying spectacles for people, or training for those who are irreversibly blind. Your kind donations will go a long way to helping this work take place, so thank you.

The race was won in an incredible time of 1 hour 8 mins 8 secs. I finished 1,615 places later with a time of 1 hour 44mins 56secs. There were 2,721 runners who finished. I was very happy with my time, it was bang on my goal.

Many thanks to you all for your kind donations and words of encouragement, it has been greatly appreciated.

with best wishes,
Jeremy

PS. Just after running the 40km from Marathon to Athens, to announce to his King the great news that the Greeks had beaten Persia in the Battle of Marathon (490 BC), it is claimed Pheidippides uttered the word “Nenikékamen” – “We have won”. With that he collapsed on the spot and died from exhaustion. But years later his running inspired the modern day Marathon racing.

And to those of you who enjoy this blog, from day to day, sporadic though my postings are, and who perhaps were waiting for me to do the hard work of the training runs, wondering would I even make it to the start line never mind the finish line, well I’ve done the hard work. I did the race. But I can’t do it all alone, and therefore my sponsorship page remains open for donations to Sightsavers International. Please feel free to click on the ‘Donate’ box below, and to donate even a small amount. The price of a beer, a coffee, a CD- it can all make a huge difference in the developing world, giving somone their eyesight back, an operation, medicine, or even a pair of glasses. This can enable them to work and feed their family, to attend school to get an education, or even to fulfil their dreams. Many who read this blog are photographers, we all know how valuable our sight is, think for a moment what life would be like if you could not see. And then think do I really need this cappuccino today ?

Please help if you can. Thank you.