Seville Half Marathon for PossAbilities Gibraltar

So…where do I start? There are so many elements to what I am about to put myself through….

I’m 52 years old and 3 years ago I decided to try running couch to 5k. I did it! My time was always spent on a treadmill because I always feared running on the road in case I fell over.

But a friend got me out for a 3k Santa Dash run in December 2023 and from then on I was converted. Week on week I have continued to road run on average 5k, with a one time 10k which was in June 2024, so when the same friend said “how about doing a half marathon in Seville” I thought why not…. What The Hell! The Half Marathon takes place at the end of January 2025, so I have 3 months to train!

Well I’m not going to do this just for the fun of it, as this is something well beyond my current capabilities, so I’m going to raise funds for a local charity.

The chosen charity…. PossAbilities Gibraltar.

Why? Well here’s the next bit for those that don’t know about Luke.

My son Luke is 13 years old, and when he was a baby we discovered that he had a large liquid cyst in his head which put pressure on his brain. This meant he couldn’t use the left hand side of his body without surgery. Between the age of 1 and 2 Luke underwent several procedures to this cyst, it couldn’t be removed because it was too large and his brain would collapse. 5 failed procedures later and he was fitted with a shunt which now controls the cyst and its size. He was diagnosed as left semi-hemiplegic.

Luke has had to attend physiotherapy and occupational therapy throughout his life so far because he has very little strength in his left arm and hand, and has to wear an AFO (splint) to assist his walking. Now don’t get me wrong because compared to some this is a mild disability, but the point of this is because I’m leading into my chosen charity and everyone likes the back story, right? (I hope you’re still reading)

Luke now attends PossAbilities on a weekly basis for a ‘work-out’.

PossAbilities is a non profit registered charity in Gibraltar which provides specialist services for people with disabilities and the neurodiverse. People who are pending, or in receipt, of a diagnosis are welcome there seven days a week.

Their services include recreational, social and leisure activities, along with educational, vocational and social opportunities.

The final part of this is to mention that I work for Sovereign, and they have a chosen charity each year for fundraising. For 2024/25 their chosen charity is PossAbilities and I hope to raise £500 to add to the charity pot (if I get to £1000, well that would be amazing).

I hope you’re still with me, so that I can finish to say please donate and follow me on my training journey. I honestly have no idea how I will do in the half marathon but I will do my bloody best to complete it!