As you may be aware my amazing husband Patrick is running the London Marathon this weekend in honour of St. Luke's Hospice who looked after his Dad before he passed away from cancer AND looked after his family after whether it was with general advice or counselling.

I had the pleasure of knowing his Dad as I have known Patrick and his family since I was about 17. He was a larger than life character, the life and soul of the party. He was always making his family laugh one minute then driving them up the wall the next and is obviously missed lots every day.

I am so proud of Patrick for taking on such a huge challenge and for wanting to raise money for such a great cause. Needless to say, now the weekend of the marathon is upon us he is feeling extremely anxious. When I was very near our due date, I told Patrick I was getting really nervous about the prospect of having to give birth and he told me that he would be with me every step of the way and that while it would be hard work and was the unknown, it would end eventually and the result would be worthwhile. I told him that is exactly the same with him and running the marathon. It will be hard work, there will be times when he wants to give up and hits 'the wall' (exactly as I did in labour, every woman who has had kids will remember the point you hit where you think 'I CAN'T DO THIS ANY MORE!!) At that point where you feel helpless and that you can't continue but somehow, you carry on, you talk yourself around and you get second wind and you do persevere.

I keep telling him to imagine that feeling he will experience when he crosses the finish line and receives a medal. How amazing it will feel to say he has run the London Marathon. How amazing he will feel knowing he has raised all of that money because people believed in him and his cause and rightly so too.

Yes he will ache, yes he will feel as though his legs are about to fall off....he will actually feel as though his whole body is about to fall apart. He will be exhausted but he will be euphoric.

He is no athlete; before he found out he had been accepted to run the marathon he was only a fair-weather runner and only ran a few miles each time he went out. He only started taking his training seriously when he found out he would be running it and he has done so well since then and come so far. I think when someone who has no previous running experience signs up for something as extreme as running the marathon they really do deserve acknowledgement for not only the event itself but all the preparation they have to do in advance. All those wintry evenings or mornings he went out and ran, all those times he injured himself , tired himself out or felt as though he wasn't progressing or wanted to give up. All of those times he has promoted his run and badgered his Facebook friends to sponsor him. It has all been to raise money for a cause close to his and his family's heart.

I will of course let you know how he gets on and in the meantime want to thank everyone who has supported Patrick so far, encouraged him, given him advice, sponsored him and to those who are planning on supporting him up town on the day.

Even the smallest bit of encouragement helps and even the smallest donation makes a difference.




www.justgiving.com/PatrickMosely