Keeping promises and taking on challenges

Let me make something clear; I’m not a runner. I love my team sports, and I’m a committed and enthusiastic cricket player for my local side, but I’ve never been described as a runner of any sort. 

Despite that, I do stick to my promises, and I made a very important one in 2015, to a very important student. I’ve blogged about Emily Mackay before, so if you don’t know her story, take a look here. 

Needless to say, for those who knew her, Emily was an inspiration. She was heroic in her fight against cancer, and when I was lucky enough to present her with the Principal’s Award for Excellence at our 2015 Student Awards, I made the promise to her I would run the London Marathon for the charity she cared passionately about, the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Emily on the night I made my promise to her

The charity which Emily cared so much about is truly an excellent one. It actively supports all those aged between 13 and 24-years-old who have been diagnosed with cancer – that’s around seven per day. And it’s the only charity which has been specifically set up to support these young people. I know that the Teenage Cancer Trust helped Emily in her fight against cancer, and now I would like to help them continue to make a difference.

Emily was passionate about supporting the Teenage Cancer Trust

After Emily lost her battle with cancer in June, I resolved to make good on my promise to her. So earlier this year, I applied for a place to run the 2017 marathon on behalf of the Teenage Cancer Trust. I found out that I had been successful in my application, and would be taking part in 2017’s London Marathon.

And so I come to that initial statement I made; I am no runner but this year, I will be running. I’ve begun my training regime, created my sponsorship page, and have set my goals. And though I’m under no illusions that it’s going to be easy, I’ll be running for Emily, because she – despite her young age – was an absolute inspiration to me, and all of those around our whole College community. It is because I am #inspiredbyEmily, that I know I will make it around the marathon, and despite the fact it’ll be tough, I’ll be spurred on by her memory.

If you’d like to donate, please see my Virgin Money Giving fundraising page here . I’ll be using the hashtag #inspiredbyEmily throughout my journey, and would love it if you can tweet your support using this.