Welcome to our 2020 Challenge.
For some reason, call it sadistic if you will, we have decided this year to embark on both the physical and mental challenge of Marathon running.
Having discussed the idea of losing a bit of excess weight and trying to get back into some sort of shape, both Matt and I thought we would take up a spot of jogging. Now, I will admit that I have in the past been partial to running and enjoyed a stint a few years back of pounding the pavements for fun. Matt on the other hand up until 3 months ago has only enjoyed the security of the gym and the comfort of a feature packed treadmill.
We are always up for a challenge and feel as a local business it’s nice to get involved in projects that can give something back to the local community. I suppose this is where we announce that our participation in all these events has been bought and paid for by us and we haven’t secured our entry through charitable places. This has allowed us to look at options as to what Charity or Charities we can support, more on this in the next few weeks.
Running has seemingly become a religion over the last decade, with more focus, money, support and participation than ever before.
I sat there on my sofa back in May and filled in my annual VLM ballot entry. From memory it’s been 10 years, and every year in October my excitement grows only to be crushed by the delivery of a “You didn’t get in” magazine. I often question, who actually does get in, all my friends seemingly get the same heart-breaking plastic wrapped “you’ve failed again” correspondence via Royal Mail. However, this year on the 10th October an email landed in my inbox. “Congratulations”, it would appear there is hope, ordinary people like me do get places through the ballot, a wave of joy tingled through my body. I was 1 of over 457,000 entries this year and this time I got lucky. It was then and for the first time that the task in hand dawned on me… I’ve got to run 26.2 miles!
Matts decision has a little less legacy to it, having only really found running in the past 6 months, I use the word found as I think that’s what happens, most of us are capable of doing it and in the main, we’ve been doing it for years. I remember when my children were young, they never walked anywhere, they just ran! There is obviously a point in life where we unconsciously decide to stop running and slow down. Anyway, back to Matt… Having been bitten by the endorphin fuelled highs and the tranquillity of running along the seafront during the warm summer months, he announced one morning that he was taking his running to a new level by entering the Worthing Half. Over the next week or so and a few runs later, this escalated to “I’ve entered the Brighton Marathon”. At this point I don’t think he had any idea of what he had taken on an had just got swept up in the whole idea of crowds chanting his name and the endless supply of jelly babies on offer!
So, that’s how we found ourselves in this position. We are both entered to run the Worthing Half in February and then on to our individual Marathon challenges in April. There is a very long road ahead and hopefully lots of fun and fundraising along the way. I’m sure there will be equal measures of tears and joy and we would love to share the experience with you.
If you want to find out how 2, seemingly average middle aged men get on you can follow our progress here every week.
All advice is welcome, if you want to join us on our training runs then please let us know, or if you think we would benefit from joining you, ping us a message. Please try and remember we still have a business to run and won’t be able to make every offer. However, as I mentioned earlier, we believe running a local business isn’t just about providing a service, it’s about getting involved in the wider community and helping in whatever ways we can.
Thank you all for the support you have shown so far.
Matt & Rob
