Injury Overcome and the Marathon Itself

So finally we come to the culmination of my narrative. My training went smoothly until a fortnight or so before the marathon. I was feeling good and pushing myself a bit on one training session when I felt a pain in my hamstring. I assumed that it would quickly disappear but it didn’t. So, panic that all my training had been in vain, and I would not be able to run. Robyn then suggested the osteopath at the local leisure centre, who diagnosed a torn muscle. He used acupuncture and then pounded away at my leg. This was all unknown territory for me but I felt OK on my next run so was very grateful and relieved.

And now it is all over. I went down to Winchester on Saturday evening and a kind friend provided a bed and a carbohydrate-filled dinner and breakfast. Sunday morning dawned clear and fine, which was a relief, and the Wiltshire downs looked beautiful from the bus which took us to Salisbury. We got there soon after 9.00 am so there was plenty of time to loosen up before the start at 10.15 when some 400 of us set out.

I actually quite enjoyed the first couple of hours of the run. The sun was out, there was a gentle and cooling south wind, and most of the running was on reasonable tracks or smooth downland turf. The atmosphere was pleasant and supportive and we even managed to chat some of the time. Every nine or ten minutes we passed another mile marker so at the end of three hours I was beyond Kings Somborne and had covered some 18 miles.

So, only eight miles to go, but anyone who has run this sort of distance will know that it the last part of the run which is really tough. As we climbed out of the Test Valley and back on the downs, on the steepest part of the run, I felt my energy rapidly draining away. My leg muscles really began to ache and just putting one foot in front of the other became a great effort. I was no longer in control of my speed and I had to rely on will power – and the thought of how much money was raised each mile that I covered – to keep going. It was very encouraging to find Robyn and Juliet in Ham Green to cheer me on. By then I was within three miles of the finish and I got a bit of a second wind. Even so, those last eight miles took me two hours, so my final time was just under five hours.

For the first few minutes after the finish both walking and talking were difficult, but I gradually came round and once we reached our friend’s house a hot bath and cups of tea and scones revived me – the thought of those was the other thing that kept me going!

I am hugely grateful for the sponsorship I got. I have received some 60 individual donations already, with quite a few more to come. The total raised should exceed £2,500 and there will be Gift Aid to add to that, so it will be a significant contribution to Together for Sudan’s funds. My warm thanks to all the donors who read this.

Website Updated

It's been a while since my last blog entry but a lot has been happening behind the scenes and the Together for Sudan website has been updated with some interesting new articles. There are letters from some of our University Students and also notes from our new vocational scholarship apprentices. There is an appeal for this project which is on the homepage and a general appeal because as always there is never enough money to do all the things that need doing. If you've been reading the TfS blog you will know all about Adrian and his coming marathon - please support this if you can- but you may not know about a young lady in Bristol called Marie who ran a half marathon and raised over £300 for us. Thank you Marie, you're a hero.











Because of this we are inviting people to do the same. Create a Just Giving page, do something and raise some cash to help with the work we do. Become a TfS hero. If enough people do it I'll make a hero gallery page on the website. See our charity Just Giving page here.

All the pages mentioned above are connected by hyperlink so just click on any one of them to learn more or click here if you want to know more about being a hero. The picture I have included is of the Together for Sudan office staff in Khartoum, they manage all the good work that Together for Sudan does, they are my heroes.

Dave Lewis

Pushing Myself

I regarded today with some trepidation as it was the date for my longest training run. Previously I had not run for more than two hours but this one was supposed to be for three, so getting on for the marathon distance.

I am lucky around here in at least having plenty of pleasant areas to run in. I started below Alexandra Palace in Alexandra Park, then went via Highgate Woods to Hampstead Heath, which provides a long circuit with plenty of hills. I certainly felt myself slowing down after the first hour and a half and the hills became much more of an effort. Curiously my breathing, which tends to slow me down on shorter runs, was not a problem today; it was the weariness in my legs which affected me more and more as time went on.

For the sake of realism I extended my run along the local railway walk to Finsbury Park so I ended up doing 3hours. That was good psychologically as I now know that I can push myself to do a bit more even when I am pretty tired. I suppose that I did 17 or 18 miles altogether, so not to far off the marathon distance. Writing this three hours later I do not feel too exhausted so hopefully all the training has had some effect.

Now the training schedule tails off with a 1 hour run next weekend followed by a series of short runs to keep things ticking over until the big day. Then, hopefully, I shall have the responsibility of actually justifying the sponsorship to keep me going, and can reflect that any discomfort I suffer running is fairly paltry compared the challenges faced everyday by displaced and marginalized people in Sudan.

Adrian Thomas

Scotland and London - Thinking Ahead

Thursday 27th August. My last run in Scotland – a long one on the smooth sandy roads of the Balmoral estate; a beautiful early evening and I am surprised at how much distance I am able to cover. There is a bit of wind and it starts me thinking about the factors I shall have to worry about on 4th October: Salisbury-Winchester is an east-west route so hopefully the prevailing wind will be behind us. I shall need to take the gradients into account as well, even though Scotland has been good preparation for that. I shall plan to reconnoitre at least part of the route during September.

Wednesday 2nd September. A nice cool London day and I was able to get round my standard 4 mile course through woods and parks as fast as I have ever managed. That was a great relief as I found that I really struggled on a 2-hour run on Monday. It was much hotter then, and I covered about 11 miles, but I think that I was also short of sleep. One never quite knows how one is going to do, but it is certainly worth taking rest and nutrition seriously. I also need to think about hydration, and must remember to have plenty to drink at the start of the marathon. It was salutary to remember that the marathon is more than twice as long as my 11 mile run.
Adrian Thomas

Adrian THOMAS is fundraising for Together for Sudan - JustGiving

Adrian THOMAS is fundraising for Together for Sudan - JustGiving

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Help Needed Now

In July Alan and I attended a meeting of five of the eight Together for Sudan Trustees, an unofficial meeting at a hotel in London’s Heathrow airport. The purpose was to discuss the funding difficulty into which Together for Sudan has been plunged by the current international financial recession. TfS Treasurer Norman Swanney laid out the situation: unless there is a dramatic upsurge in untied funds-- i.e. donations not ear marked for a particular project – TfS will be in dire straits by the end of this year. Essentially, this shocking situation has come about due to two difficulties: 1) the inability of several of our long term institutional partners to continue to support us and 2) the rising costs of operating our two offices in Khartoum and Kadugli.

As you can imagine, TfS Trustees are deeply concerned and asking all our supporters who can afford to do so to come to our assistance. Meanwhile, although we are already low budget, we are reducing costs in both the Khartoum and Kadugli offices and that, sadly, may entail closing one of the offices and reducing personnel . Meanwhile, although the situation remains uncertain we are determined to survive for the sake of the women and children we serve. What more can be done?

Together for Sudan is in process of registering an American charity – “Friends Together for Sudan” – which will raise funds for Together for Sudan. But clearance through US sanctions against transfer of funds to Sudan will likely take several more weeks, if not months. And what we need is more funding now.

Together for Sudan is not a religious charity. But, from the time it began, both Muslims and Christians have recognized that this is a work of grace. Otherwise how could we have accomplished so much on such a relatively small budget? One of our highest objectives has always been to bring Muslims and Christians into service to one another, a much needed form of peacemaking.

TfS Trustees and Patrons are dedicated to continuing an educational work which over the past decade has benefitted thousands of Sudanese, most of them displaced and disadvantaged women and children. It is an enormous privilege to serve the Sudanese people and we hope to continue.

But we need your support. You can make a donation on line at http://www.togetherforsudan.org/ by downloading Bankers Orders or Gift Aid forms. Or you can send a cheque payable to Together for Sudan to 33 Balmoral Road, Trowbridge, Wiltshire BA14 OJS. UK. Please note that all US dollar cheques need to be made out to the" Bishop Mubarak Fund "

Lillian Craig-Harris

Three Weeks Later

It is three weeks since I last reported so time to give an update on how my preparations for the marathon are progressing.

I have kept to a steady training schedule with distances gradually increasing. This afternoon I did a twelve-mile run which has left me quite weary. I feel that I have a long way to go before I shall be capable of running twice that distance but it is reassuring at least to be able to keep a steady pace for two hours.

I am still in Aberdeenshire and my current training route is along the upper reaches of the River Gairn. These days it is a remote and deserted area, but in many places one can see ruined farms and lodges. There used to be a strong community here with a school, chapel and shops, but it was a hard life. Poverty drove the people away, and now there are only sheep, grouse, deer, hares and birds. The harsh conditions inevitably prompt comparisons with Sudan. Ultimately most of Scotland’s displaced people achieved a more prosperous life – will the same be true for the Sudanese? Perhaps, but like all people in transition they will need support.

Adrian Thomas