Running for Cerebra to support children with brain conditions
On April 2nd, I ran the London Landmarks Half Marathon (LLHM) in support of Cerebra.
Cerebra is an amazing charity that provides support to children with brain conditions and their families. There are over 500,000 children in the UK that live with a brain condition. As a paralegal in the Child Brain Injury team at Bolt Burdon Kemp, I see first-hand the difficulties that children with brain injuries and their families face. Having support is crucial, and Cerebra does a wonderful job of this. I therefore jumped at the chance to help them continue with their vital work, supporting children with brain conditions and their families.
Cerebra provides research-driven solutions and advice. They fund research that gives families of children with brain conditions access to the highest quality evidence-based information and support. This helps the families begin to tackle the challenges they face and make informed decisions about what is right for them. They also support research aimed at reducing the prevalence of disabling conditions.
I had no trouble getting donations from family and friends, and I attribute that to Cerebra’s worthy cause. I posted to my social media and sent a few messages to my family and friends with the link to cerebra’s website and everyone was happy to support Cerebra’s mission. In the end, I raised over £360!
There were ten of us running for Cerebra in the LLHM and you can read all about it in their newsletter.
Training
I have never been much of a runner. To be honest, I always thought I disliked running. When I volunteered to run the half marathon to raise money for Cerebra, I felt honoured to support and represent such a worthy cause, but I was nervous for the long road of training ahead!
With my fundraising going well, all that was left to do was actually train for the run. I researched training plans for beginners and downloaded a plan that looked doable with my work and study schedule. It comprised of three runs a week increasing in distance over 12 weeks in the lead up to the main run. Training went really well and I started to really enjoy running – I was quite surprised! I had two important exams in March, and for two weeks, my priorities shifted from running. After the fog of exams lifted, I was ready to get my final weeks of training in before the big day.
The day of the event
To my own surprise, I wasn’t nervous on the day. My colleague, Charlotte Wailes, was also running the LLHM for Cerebra. It was nice to share the experience with someone, and having a friend to run with definitely eased my nerves. I also knew that the lovely team from Cerebra were going to be there to cheer me on along the way.
I sported my Cerebra running vest with pride and headed for the starting line. It was inspiring to see so many people running for their respective charities. Some people had names and pictures on their vests, of the people they were running in honour of. There were over 16,000 runners and the event raised £9 million for charities in total.
Reflection
Running the London Landmarks Half Marathon was a great experience. The route was very scenic, running past most of London’s famous landmarks and the atmosphere was electric. The sun even came out towards the middle of the day. There were bands and steel drums along the route, a DJ and even a rave tunnel. My favourite part of the day was all the little kids giving the runners high-fives as they ran past. I was so proud to be able to support Cerebra by participating in this event and I hope that my fundraising will help them to continue to do their important work.
