Running London Marathon in Memory of Val Gates.

Almost 3 years ago I was lucky enough to win a London Marathon place through Pudsey Pacers. Training started in Winter 2020 and we were almost ready to run our last long, long run when it was announced that London Marathon was cancelled due to Covid. Fast forward to 2022, I have now trained for this marathon 3 times and this Sunday I will eventually be running it (I still won't believe it until I'm on that start line though!). Anyway, I didn't want the occasion to go by without trying to raise a bit of money for charity. On Sunday I will be running in memory of the beautiful Val Gates who we sadly lost last year. Val and I bonded at a parkrun conference where we were as rubbish as each other on the inflatable obstacle course and it wasn't through lack of trying we tried REALLY hard but I think our giggling may have hindered our performance somewhat and we renamed our team "Team Shit", so on Sunday I hope to do "Team Shit" proud and run the London marathon and I promise again to try REALLY hard and will be thinking about all the giggles I had with Val along the way. I'm going to run for one of Val's favourite charities based in Brighton where Val lived. I'm raising money in aid of R.I.S.E. (REFUGE, INFORMATION, SUPPORT AND EDUCATION) and every donation will help. Thank you in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to me.

More information about R.I.S.E. (REFUGE, INFORMATION, SUPPORT AND EDUCATION): We are RISE (Refuge, Information, Support and Education), a domestic abuse charity based in Brighton and Hove.