Julian Walshaw
Here’s the thing, when you’re asked by a prospective employer “are you prepared to go the extra mile?” what do you say? That question came up just before I joined the firm earlier this year, in reply to which I gave a very positive “absolutely”. By the beaming smile on the other person’s face, I knew this had been the right thing to say. It was the next statement that caught me a little off guard – “Great, I’ll put your name down to run the Florence Marathon with us later this year”
At that point I swallowed….hard….and tried not to faint. Long distance runner I am not.
Six months or so later and we are all now well into our training, with a mere 15 weeks to go. The thing that has surprised me most though is the fact that it has not been that bad!
Yes, I’ve had to invest in one or two new items of sporting apparel (running shorts, shirts, trainers), yes I’ve had to cut down on certain foodstuffs (basically all the things I really like but which are all really bad for prospective runners) and yes, when I started running for longer than the 20 or so good minutes I normally manage when playing 5-a-side football my knees quickly let me know that they weren’t keen on this turn of events, but leaving all that aside, I am starting to get into it now. And it is only 26 miles. It won’t be that bad.
Leaving the jokes aside for one minute, I am fairly sure that after running around the beautiful streets of Florence for somewhere in the region of 4 to 5 hours, I am not going to be feeling my best, but with your generous sponsorship those few hours of discomfort will hopefully mean a far more comfortable, happy and enjoyable childhood for the hundreds of children helped everyday by the NSPCC. So go on, please give all you can and help us make a difference.