25 July 2016

I'm delighted to announce the final figures for this year Charlie Allum Memorial Day and with online donations over the last week and the money raised on the day, I can confirm that this years event raised £4169.89 which is a record busting amount!!!! This is a truly amazing amount of money that my family and I are so grateful to have raised in memory of dad and we can never thank everyone enough for your support. The money is being split with £600.00 going to Wallingford Town Football Club and £3569.89 going to AMMF. 

I can also smugly say that my team Jessventus named after my daughter did me hugely proud and we won the 8 team tournament beating the pre tournament favourites in Antony Hill's team Maxchester United 2-0 in the final. Dave Miners' Wallingford United team cruised to an emphatic 5-0 victory in the over 40's match against Alan Taylor's Wallingford Town side. 

Still revelling in the glory of the day and so pleased with what we have all achieved. Here's to next year!

17 July 2016

This time next week the legs will be sore, as will
the head be but we will know who the tournament champions are of the Charlie Allum Memorial Day 2016. This year will be the fifth instalment of dad's memorial day and the biggest yet with 10 teams playing as we are also having an over 40's game for the older guys who don't feel able to cope with playing in the tournament. This years event will again take place at the Hithercroft Sports Park, the home of Wallingford Town AFC, and I for one cannot wait!

To give you an idea on how the event has grown over
the years - 

2012 - 2 teams, 40 players and £1193.00 raised

2013 - 4 teams, 57 players and £1500.00 raised

2014 - 6 teams, 83 players and £2046.00 raised

2015 - 8 teams, 111 players and £2776.00 raised

2016 - 10 teams, 144 players expected and hopefully
loads of ££££££ raised.

The format is again two groups of 4 teams on 2
pitches and the draw for the groups has been done with outcome as follows - 

Group 1 (Chris Allum, Andy Allum, Antony Hill &
Steve Wood)

Group 2 (Geoff Lee, Carl Fisher, James Gesner & Steve 'Leafy' Lee)

Everyone will progress to the quarter finals to ensure a minimum of 4x 20 minute games (1st in Group 1 will play 4th in Group 2 etc), semi finals and final will be 30 mins in duration). 

Players please arrive for 10am to register for an 11am tournament start (photos at 10.45am). All being well the tournament final should finish at 5.30pm. Please remember to have your £10 charity donation on you when you come to
register.

Please share this post far and wide as we are hoping for this years day to be bigger than ever before. If anyone is interested in helping in anyway on the day, or would like to donate a raffle prize or are a business that would like to sponsor the event then please let me know. Format of the day as follows

• 10am - Players arrive to register and get ready.
• 10.45am - Group and team photos.
• 11am– Balloon release, minute applause and first game of tournament.
  
• 1pm - Tournament lunch break until 2pm.
• 1.05pm - Over 40's match on main pitch (20 minutes each way).
• 5pm - Tournament final on main pitch.
• 5.45pm– Speeches & presentations.
• 6.15pm - Players arrive in bar after showers.
• 6.45pm - Raffle draw & spot the ball winner revealed
• 7.30pm - Events finish and continue with drinks throughout the evening!

Events/stalls going on throughout the day as follows -  

• 8 team tournament
• Over 40's match
• Raffle & Tombola
• BBQ that will run throughout the afternoon.
• Tea hut (for snacks, soft drinks and refreshments)
• Photoboards 
• Spot the ball
• Cake stall
• Bouncy Castles

I

'm sure that this years event will be as successful as the last four and I cannot wait for the fifth instalment of this day to commence, fingers crossed on the weather and let's make it another cracking day in memory of Chaz and raise lots of money!

18 July 2015

Another year past and here we go again! 2 weeks today is the fourth instalment of the Charlie Allum Memorial Day at the Hithercroft in Wallingford, this time in 2 weeks we will be nearly at the final stage and getting closer to finding out this years winners (please not Fish again!). The 8 managers are in place for what is our biggest tournament yet and the teams have again been randomly picked out of a child's pudding bowl by me and Andy. 

We currently have 118 players with 15-16 in each squad and this year each manager will be allowed to bring in 2 ringers that are not already on this player list. 
The format is two groups of 4 teams on 2 pitches and the draw for the groups has been done with outcome as follows - 
Group 1 (Steve Wood, Geoff Lee, Carl Fisher & Chris Allum)
Group 2 (Steve 'Leafy' Lee, Andy Allum, James Gesner & Gary Elkins)
Everyone will progress to the quarter finals to ensure a minimum of 4x 20 minute games (1st in Group 1 will play 4th in Group 2 etc), semi finals and final will be 30 mins in duration). 
Team names and colours will be announced over the coming week. 
Please arrive between 10 to 10.30am to register for an 11am tournament start. All being well the tournament final should finish at 4.30pm. Please remember to have your £10 charity donation on you when you come to register.
We are still in need of 2 more referees for the day so please let me know if you are aware of anyone that may help us out?
We are also looking for volunteers to help run the outside bar that the football club have organised, any assistance with bar staff even for an hour would be appreciated as if it is just Hot Dog in there we could go very thirsty.
Please share this post far and wide as we are hoping for this years day to be bigger than ever before. If anyone is interested in helping in anyway on the day, or would like to donate a raffle prize or are a business that would like to sponsor the event then please let me know. Format of the day as follows - 

·        10amto 10.30am – Players arrive to register and get ready.

·        11am– First game of tournament.

·        4pm– Tournament final.

·        5pm– Speeches, presentation and spot the ball winner announced.

·        5.45pm– Players arrive in bar after showers.

·        6pm– Raffle Draw

·        7pm– Event finish and continue with drinks throughout the evening!

 Events going on throughout the afternoonand evening as follows -  

·        Raffle& Tombola

·        BBQthat will run throughout the day.

·        Outside bar(for snacks, alcohol and refreshments)

·        FamilyPhotoboard in main stand.

·        Spotthe ball

·        CakeStall

·        BouncyCastles

I personally cannot wait for the fourth instalment of this day to commence, fingers crossed on the weather and let's make it another cracking day in memory of Chaz and raise lots of money!

19th July2014

So afterJames Gesner and I ran a gruelling London Marathon in April and raised £4500for AMMF, the running may seem a distant memory now but the fundraising andawareness raising is very much at the forefront of my mind as we approach thethird instalment of the Charlie Allum Memorial Day. To smash through the £10,000 mark on my page next week is going to be amazing!

In one weeks time we willknow the victors of these years tournament, I will be supping a cold beer andreminiscing about the good old days with dad with my family and friends. This is theexcellent piece that was on page 2 of the Wallingford Herald this week andgives more details about this year’s event – 

THIS year’s annual charity football tournament held in memory of formerWallingford Town FC player and manager Charlie Allum promises to be the biggestand best to date. 
More than 90 players have signed up to take part in The Charlie Allum MemorialDay at the football club in The Hithercroft on Saturday, July 26 - and theorganisers said they would welcome more. 
Born and bred in Wallingford, Mr Allum was a popular figure around the townuntil his death at the age of 55 in June 2011 from cholangiocarcinoma - bileduct cancer. 
Since then, the football tournament, which is now in its third year, has raisedthousands of pounds for AMMF, the UK's only charity for the disease. 
One of Mr Allum’s two sons, Chris said: “We are now approaching the thirdinstalment of Dad’s memorial day and although I cannot believe that three yearshas passed since we lost him what remains clear is that his legacy lives on. 
“Last year’s event was a huge success with £1750.00 raised for AMMF andWallingford Town football club both who we have chosen to support as a family.” 
“This year looks to be the biggest yet, with more players expected, creatingmore teams, bringing more supporters and hopefully increasing the money raisedon the day.” 
The tournament’s first match will kick off at 11am and matches will continuethroughout the day, along with a raffle, a tombola, an auction, a spot the ball competition and abarbecue. 
Among the players this year are three former professional footballers who allplayed for Wallingford - Gary Elkins, of Fulham, Wimbledon and Swindon Town,Paul Powell, of Oxford United, and Ross Weatherstone, of Oxford United andBoston United. 
Another former Oxford Utd player John Dreyer, now Preston’s assistant manager,who played with Mr Allum at Wallingford Town in 1985-1986 before turning pro atOxford United, would have liked to have played as well but for clubcommitments. However, he has arranged for a signed Preston shirt to be providedfor the auction. 
The tournament also raises money for the football club with which Mr Allum hada long association over a 30-year period including being groundsman. 
As well as son Chris, Mr Allum also left wife Julie, his younger son Andy,daughter Nicky, and four grandchildren (now seven). 
Chris, who also plays for Wallingford with his brother, said: “I would like tothank everyone that has helped to organise the day and everyone who intends tosupport the event by attending this year.” 
Anyone interested in playing would be welcome, said Chris, and they shouldcontact him by email at: chrisallum101@btinternet.com - donations can also be made at the fundraisingwebsite: www.justgiving.com/chris-allum 
Cholangiocarcinoma is the second most common liver cancer in the world and1,800 people, in the UK alone die from it annually. Only five per cent of thosediagnosed with it survive beyond a year. 
Debbie Nicholson, of AMMF, said: “We are extremely grateful for the supportreceived from Chris, his family and friends.” 
For more information, see www.ammf.org.uk

5th April 2014

It's just over a week now until the big off and after 6 long months of training it actual feels like it has come around rather quickly now! 

James & I will be carrying out our last run together tomorrow before the marathon, a gentle 8 mile jog around the local area tomorrow morning to keep the muscles relaxed and ready.

We have now passed the £2500 mark in donations received which is an amazing amount for a great cause in honour of Charlie Allum. Thank you so much to everyone that has donated so far we have been blown away by your generosity and to those that haven't donated yet, get a move on with it!!! 

We are looking forward to the big day and are still in with a shout of completing the marathon in under 4 hours which is what we have trained so hard to achieve. It will ultimately come down to how we feel on the day but believe us it won't be for the want of trying that we don't hit our goal!

Thanks again from a very grateful Chris & James.

16th March 2014

Reading Half Marathon and Goring 10k both now completed and next competitve run is London which is 4 weeks today! 

It's been a long 5 months of training and 475 miles have been racked up, one long run to go of 22 miles next Sunday and then three weeks of tapering down for the big day. 

James and I feel like we are peaking at the right time and if we are honest we just want to run the 26.2 miles now in under 4 hours so are marathon days are over!

Running a marathon is not just 26.2 miles on the day it is the miles and miles of training and dedication to it beforehand. We both have young families and having to run three or four times a week put's a massive strain on others (mainly the wives) around us too. I am looking forward to continue to train for 10k events and getting back to playing football and James is eager to get back to his fishing!

We have been overwhelmed by everyone's donations and support up to now and hope that anyone that hasn't had a chance to donate will do over the coming days before we get to the start line.

Come on Ges we can do it!!!

19th January 2014

It’s bad enough putting yourself through running one marathon which is 26.2 miles in length, so why would you want to do it again.....

In 2012 I completed the London Marathon in a time of 4 hours 38 minutes; my good friend James Gesner completed it last year in a time of 4 hours 47 minutes. As soon as we knew in early October last year that we had both successfully got a place via the ballot, we decided that we wanted to train together and made two pacts. (1) To run the marathon in under a very challenging target of 4 hours and secondly to raise £2000 together for AMMF.

James and I are very similar in some ways; we have young families (including that I have a 10 month old boy and he has his fourth child on the way), work full time, love football and are both hugely competitive. We have both had to make several sacrifices in order to commit to training for 6 months, they have included giving up playing football, reducing our amount of takeaways and cutting out the booze which we both love!  Ultimately our poor families, especially the wives are suffering but as we have both vowed that this will be our last competitive marathon as we are in our mid thirties and to run a marathon in under 4 hours then sacrifices have to be made!

James and I have now completed around half of our training and have run nearly 300 miles so far. In 6 weeks time we are also running the Reading Half Marathon as part of our training towards the big day itself.

James and I have know each other for around 20 years now and of course he knew my dad and I was so pleased when he said that he would like to also run for my families chosen cancer charity AMMF. Come the marathon in April it will nearly be 3 years since losing dad and my family have been supporting AMMF for around 4 and a half years now since dad was first diagnosed. To date the family have raised nearly £10,000 for the charity which is a great achievement and to also have James supporting the charity this year is great as he raised around £6000 for VICTA in last years marathon. AMMF only have 3 runners in this year’s marathon so it was so pleasing that James joined me because up until recently I was their only runner!

For those of you who are unaware of the work that AMMF do....they are helping to fund research and treatments into cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct) cancer, this is a rare cancer known as CC and what we lost dad too. This terrible disease effects around 1500 a year, with a 5% survival rate and currently kills more than cervical cancer which of course is more widely known.

James and I both hate asking for money as everyone has been so supportive to us during our marathon challenges over the last couple of years.  However if you can find a way of donating to this very worthy cause then James and I will be so grateful for your support in hopefully achieving our fundraising goal. Either a set donation amount or how's about £26.20 which would be a pound for every mile (26.2 miles) we hopefully complete during the marathon. James and I have agreed that however many minutes we do under our times last time then we will put in a £1 per mile to the fund. So hopefully I will be putting in at least £39 and James will be putting in £48!

Thanks for all your support and please give us a beep, wave or shouts of encouragement when you see us out and about pounding the streets of Oxfordshire.

Chris & James

2nd December 2013

It's now been around 5 months since my last update and I cannot believe that I haven't even posted to gloat about my team winning the trophy at dad's memorial tournament in July.....anyway we beat my brother's team comprehensively 3-0 in the final and I even scored via a cheeky chip from the penalty spot! it was a great day with a fantastic amount of money raised again, the weather was good the football was competitive with 57 players involved across the 4 teams and so many additions to last years day to involve more people and increase the size of the event. Once again a brilliant tribute to dad which pulls so many people together to celebrate his life and raise money for a great cause. I'm just worried about how much the event might grow again next year and all the organising involved......pencil in Saturday July 26th 2014 for next years event.

So onto the next fundraising event which is the small matter of me again running 26.2 miles around the streets of London on Sunday 13th April 2014. I am delighted to also announce that my good friend James Gesner is also joining me in running on behalf of AMMF next year. We have already completed 7 weeks of training and are 106 miles into our 651 mile training plan (that is the equivalent of running from my home in Cholsey to John O'Groats!)

I completed the marathon last year in a time of 4 hours 38 minutes, James completed it this year in a time of 4 hours 47 minutes. We have made two pacts together and one is to run it in under a very challenging target of 4 hours and secondly to raise £2000 together for AMMF. James and I have vowed that if we run it in under 4 hours then this will be our last competitive marathon as we are both in our mid thirties and I for one would like to prolong my football career by another few years so there is an incentive!

It is now 2 and a half years since losing dad and although he is gone, he is most certainly not forgotten and his fighting spirit and character lives on in not only his kids but also his 6 grandchildren (soon to be 7 towards the end of March next year with Fi and Andy due to have their 3rd child). James and I will need some of Chaz's fighting spirit when we are approaching the 20th mile in London next year.....I am a firm believer in the quote that anyone can run 20 miles it is the next 6.2 miles that count!

I hate asking for money as everyone has been so supportive to our family over the last few years which has seen us raise an amazing amount of nearly £7500 for AMMF but if you can find a way of donating to this very worthy cause then I, the rest of the family and James will be so grateful for your support.  Either a set donation amount or how's about £26.20 which would be a pound for every mile (26.2 miles) we hopefully complete during the marathon.

Finally, just to remind you of the work that AMMF do....they are helping to fund research into cholangiocarcinoma cancer, known as CC and what we lost dad too. This terrible disease effects around 1500 a year, with a 5% survival rate and currently kills more than cervical cancer which of course is more widely known.

I will of course keep you posted on mine and James' progress through the difficult winter months of training......

Thanks again

Chris, the rest of the Allum family and James.

4th July 2013

It has been nearly 11 months since my last update and time to get back on the fundraising track in honour of dad.

It's been a busy year with the arrival of what would have been dad's 6th grandchild with the birth of our baby boy Charlie Allum on the 1st March, who of course has been named in honour of dad. Charlie is 4 months now and such a comtent and smiley little lad, takes after his grandad already!

I have been successful in gaining entry to the 2014 London Marathon after deferring my place from this year due to having knee surgery again last September. The knee seems to have healed well and after an impending minor operation to my collarbone, I will again commence training for this great event in October with a rather challenging aim of running it in under 4 hours next year. I will of course be running the marathon again in support of AMMF and all donations received will be going to the charity.

However before then we have the matter of dad's memorial day to celebrate on Saturday 20th July in a little over 2 weeks time again at The Hithercroft where dad had so many happy times with his friends. Due to so many people wanting to be involved last year and 40 of these being players, we have decided to increase the size of the event this year and have an 11 a side tournament of 4 teams with everyone playing everyone and then having a winner takes the trophy final. Much of last years fundraising events will return with the charity auction, raffle and spot the ball but this year we will also be having a tombola plus a bouncy castle, larger BBQ and hopefully a visit from a couple of the coaches from Little Kickers to entertain the kids. Please come along on the day which we are looking to start at 1.30pm and go through until about 8pm with the conclusion of the charity auction.

On the 12th of June it was two years since we lost dad and in some ways it seems like yesterday that he was with us and in other ways it seems like a lifetime ago that I last got to spend some time with the best dad that anyone could of asked for. All of our hearts still ache but it is events like the memorial day and fundraising for charity that keep his spirit alive.

Hopefully see you on the 20th and if you can't make the day it would be great if you could make a donation through this site.

9th August 2012

Firstly a massive thank you to everyone that attended Dad's charity game on Saturday 28th July, whether playing or supporting! We were completely blown away by the number of people in attendance and everyone's generosity on the day. Now that I have finally recovered from Saturday night! I can confirm that the total raised was actually a fantastic amount of £1,193.00. 

The breakdown of the fundraising is as follows – 

Player Donations - £190.00
Other Donations - £147.00

 BBQ - £60.00

Spot the Ball - £63.00
Raffle - £328.00
Signed Rooney Shirt - £250.00
Signed Legends Pic - £155.00

We have now donated £1000 to AMMF and the remaining amount of £193.00 will be donated to AFC Wallingford Football Club for their help in making the day so special.

Thank you again to you all for being involved. I’m sure Chaz would have had a smile on his face when looking down on that Saturday! It was a fitting tribute to a great man and I hope that you will all support the event again next year...all the best.

Chris Allum and family.

24th July 2012

I am delighted to confirm that all of the Marathon sponsorship money is now in and the final figure raised was £2657.00 of which £265.70 went to Radley Athletics club which was the agreed 10% donation for providing me with the place in the Marathon. This leaves a fantastic amount of £2391.30 that has been donated to AMMF through my JustGiving page. I wanted to say another massive thank you to everyone that has sponsorship me or donated to a very worthy cause (it made the pain of completing the Marathon all worth it!).

So onwards we go with the Fundraising and the next event is The Charlie Allum Memorial Cup that is being competed for this coming Saturday 28th July. Dad had a massive passion for Football and a great fondness for Wallingford Football Club. So what would be the best event to hold in his honour....a Charity Football match at the home of AFC Wallingford where he spent so many great years. There is lots planned for the afternoon/evening and it is not just a football match for people that used to either play with or be managed by Dad. An iteniary of the day is as follows - 

2pm - 2.30pm - Players arrived to get changed.

2.30pm                   - AFC Wallingford will kindly be putting on a BBQ

3pm                       - Kick off for Memorial game

5pm                       - Presentation of Memorial Cup

5.30pm                   - Players join the supporters in the bar after a shower!

6pm                       - Raffle draw

6.30pm                   - Dave Dewey is running a Spot the Ball competition

6.35pm                   - Charity auction of football Memorabilia

7pm                       - Drinks throughout the evening!

Proceeds from the day will mainly go to AMMF, however I am also looking at providing a donation to AFC Wallingford for hosting the event and this is what Dad would have wanted.

The match is being held at The Hithercroft in Wallingford and will consist of an evenly split Chris Allum XI vs Andy Allum XI (you can't beat a bit of brotherly rivalry to keep it competitve!) and we are expecting around 50 players on the day to play a part. We are also holding a charity auction after the match and our families chosen cancer charity AMMF, have supplied two fantastic items to auction, the first is a framed and signed Wayne Rooney England shirt from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the second is a England Football Legends photo frame signed by Sir Tom Finney. There will be a reserve on both items. 

My JustGiving page will remain open for the forseeable future and if you are unable to make the date, then it would be great if you could make a donation via this page. 

Many Thanks and hope to see as many of you as possible on the 28th! 

11th May 2012 

I did it! Nearly 3 weeks have passed now since the big Marathon day and I am delighted to say that I completed the gruelling course in 4 hours, 38 minutes and 52 seconds. Ironically it was one of the only sunny days that we have had over the last month or so and I guess it just had to be hot on the day! I surprised myself by being able to run all the way to 22 miles (previous longest run without stopping was 18 miles) but then got twinges of cramp in both thighs, so had to run walk the last 4 miles which made them feel like 44! 

What a day the 22nd of April was for me though and after nearly 5 long months of training in all conditions and the big build up to it, the day really didn't dissapoint. It's true what the say about the crowds dragging you along though and the atmosphere was truly amazing! A massive thanks to my fantastic wife, Jane and my best bud Dewey who both made the effort by coming to London on the day to support me, it's safe to say that you were both needed at the end of the race when I was cramping up and at the point of passing out! Also big thanks to Helen and the AMMF team of people that greeted me at the finish and kindly gave me a goody bag, it was an honour to run and raise money for AMMF. 

I was asked by the charity to write a few words to sum up my challenge and achievement and this is what I told them - 

"Running the London Marathon has always been a lifelong ambition of mine and since watching the great event on the television when I was a youngster it is something that one day I dreamt of achieving. All my life I have been a keen sportsman, and football has been my main sport, however in the last 5 years I have struggled greatly with injury and in particular tendonitis in both knees. The injuries made me put off entering the Marathon, this is until dad fell ill in November 2009 and I really wanted to do something to support both him and a cancer charity (we discovered AMMF early in 2010). However twice I entered the public ballot and could not gain a place, luckily as you know I finally gained a place through a local running club.

Dad battled cancer bravely and it has given me great strength and determination to complete this challenge as I knew that anything I was suffering was only a fraction compared to what my dad went through. The support I received from my family, friends and AMMF since starting my challenge has been unbelievable and this has no more been demonstrated in the level of donations and sponsorship that I have received and I believe that this sums up how well both dad and our family are thought off. Running the marathon has not brought my dad back but what it has done is give me a fantastic focus at a time of my life that has been incredibly difficult for me. Now I look back I am extremely proud of my achievement, so would I do the marathon again…….maybe not next year as I’m hoping to finally have surgery on my knee but I certainly wouldn’t rule it out in the future as I have dreams to get under that magical 4 hour mark!"

I am also delighted that I have smashed through my fundraising target of £2000, the money collected so far is actually at £2371.90 and with more to still collect in sponsorship, I expect to raise in excess of £2500 of which 10% (around £250) will be going to Radley Athletics Club who were kind enough to donate a marathon place to me. I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone that has donated/sponsored me and I have been absolutley blown away with the amount of money and generosity that everyone has shown. 

My JustGiving page will remain open for the forseeable future as I plan to run at least one more 10k race in the summer and we are planning to hold a charity memorial match in honour of Dad at The Hithercroft in Wallingford on Saturday 28th July, 3pm kick off. This game will be open to anyone that wants to come and watch or play,  playing wise we will hopefully see lots of people that either played alongside dad, were managed by dad or worked with him over the course of many years. If you would like to play in this game then please e-mail me at chrisallum101@btinternet.com and I will add you to the list of players. 

I am currently back nursing the pre-marathon calf injury that I received playing football and I have an appointment with a surgeon on the 22nd May to discuss surgical options for the tendonitis in the left knee. However I have entered the public ballot for the London Marathon 2013 because as they say I have been well and truly bitten by the running bug and would love to experience London again at some point! I've added some pics to the gallery of the Marathon day.

13th April 2012

Well here I am on Friday the 13th and only 9 days to go until the London Marathon, my Friday the 13th was more like last Tuesday the 10th when at around 7.30pm I thought my marathon dream was over! I felt a tightness in my left calf towards the end of the first half of a game for Wallingford but me being me and the team being 2-0 down at half time to our local rivals, I thought I'd give it a massage rub at half time and get back out there.....not a good idea! I jumped to head a ball towards goal and when I landed the sharpest pain ever went through my calf and that was my game done and possible marathon over. We went on to lose the game 4-0 and our young goalie also broke his leg in the game so an horrific night all round but I think myself lucky that I was not the one that broke my leg (best wishes of course to Ty for his road to recovery).

Three days on and after lots of ice treatment, calf compression and miracle cream that Jane recommended, I am now more positive that I will be able to run a week on Sunday. Continued rest plus hot and cold treatment until Wednesday next week when I will attempt to get out for a cycle to see how it is. In all honesty the last 3 weeks since my last blog update have been very tough and I have been looking forward to some rest and recouperation after the marathon.

A lovely week in North Devon was followed by running my first competitive half marathon at the Olympic Lake at Dorney near Windsor. Of course it had to be the hottest day of the year so far on Saturday 24th March but I'm pleased to say that Dave Dewey and I both completed the 13.1 mile course and somehow I smashed my best half marathon time by 10 mins and ran it in 1 hour 49 minutes which was really pleasing considering the sweltering conditions! Despite the heat I really enjoyed the event and competing against other runners. The mad man that I am, I then jumped in my car once back home and dashed off to Drayton to play 25 minutes for Wallingford in a relegation battle that we won 1-0. Then I played 90 mins the following morning for Cholsey too!   

I've found training for the marathon the last few weeks really tough as I am stubborn (I say committed!) to continue to play and train for both my football teams at a busy end of season time. For instance I ran my final long run a 20 miler on 29th March, this run zapped the life out of me and took 3 hours 34 minutes and I stupidly decided to do this late morning after football training the previous night!

My family and friends continue to be a massive support to me during my challenge and I can honestly say that without them I would not be where I am now. We met up at my bro's house on my mum's birthday (1st April), it was a lovely afternoon and topped off when I was presented with a bag of gifts that ranged from a pendant necklace with pic of me and dad to blister plasters to Brut aftershave and deodorant which was my dad's favourite scent! Thanks to my family for the kind gifts and your support.

We held a marathon fundraiser on Easter Sunday at my local pub with the support of my Sunday football team players. In total the day saw me return home with £250.00 in my pockets which was made up with £150.00 in sponsorship and £100.00 in games that were arranged by me and Dave Dewey on the day. Thanks to all the lads for your support it means a lot to me. I have now smashed through the magical halfway mark of £1000 in donations and with other money due on sponsorship forms and promised donations I am still confident of hitting my £2000 target and I won't stop fund raising until I get there.

So it's that time to chase people again for money.... AMMF is a fanstastic charity that is helping to fund research into cholangiocarcinoma cancer (known as CC), this terrible disease effects around 1500 a year and currently kills more than cervical cancer which of course is more widely known. For those of you that haven't had the chance to donate to my challenge yet then please dig deep for a very worthy cause, either a set donation amount or how's about £26.20 which would be a pound for every mile (26.2 miles) I hopefully complete during the marathon.

Dad I know that you will be with me and in my thoughts for the whole way round the course and I might just need you to push me over that finish line.....

20th March 2012

I sit here now in South Molton in North Devon, during a well earned week away courtesy of the in-laws who have kindly taken us away with them. I haven't been able to jog so far this week as I woke up this morning with back pain which is not great as it's only 4 days until my first competitve half marathon run!

Looking back to the 4th March and my first competitive run at the Goring 10k, which was a challenging day due to all extremes of weather (heavy rain, galeforce wind, hail, sleet and finally snow!) and with the downpours the running conditions were difficult with roads flooded and paths muddy. After running the route a few days before and covering it in 57 minutes, not for one moment did I expect to get near my 10k personal best of 54 minutes. However miracously I covered the course in 50 minutes and 28 seconds and I was of course surprised but delighted with my efforts.

With the London Marathon now less than 5 weeks away, my training is still progressing well and I covered 18 miles a couple of weeks ago without stopping and in a time of 2 hours, 48 minutes. This gave me further hope that the 26.2 marathon distance is actually achievable, though I do read that the remaining 6 miles of course is the toughest!

This coming Saturday, 24th March, I will be competing in a half marathon at the Olympic Dorney Lake at Windsor. Thanks again to Dave Dewey who continues to be my running partner and has been by my side for most of the miles covered either on foot or on his bike during the longer runs, Dewey will also be running the half marathon with me this Saturday.

I have now smashed through the £700 mark in donations and have the magical £1000 mark in my sights which I hope to hit prior to the marathon. So it's that time to chase people again for money.... AMMF is a fanstastic charity that is helping to fund research into cholangiocarcinoma cancer (known as CC), this terrible disease effects around 1500 a year and currently kills more than cervical cancer which of course is more widely known. For those of you that haven't had the chance to donate to my challenge yet then please dig deep for a very worthy cause. For those that have donated already then how's about donating a further £13.10 to me for this Saturday's half marathon (13.1 miles) run which will equate to a £1 for every mile I complete.....

Thanks again for all your genoristy and I'm off to get into the hot tub shortly to try and ease my back pain prior to tomorrow's run.....

4th February 2012

Firstly today is my wife's birthday, so happy birthday Jane and thank you so much for your continued support during my challenge. It is regular for Jane to be left at home putting our little one Jessica to bed as I pound the streets throughout the local area!

So it's been nearly 4 weeks since the creaton of my page and I thought it best to update you with my progress as a lot has seemed to happen in this time.

The training was going well and up to the 16/01/12 me and my running partner, Dave Dewey had covered 42.6 miles during those first couple of weeks of January. Unfortunatley the training had to then stop for a couple of weeks as I had to have a procedure carried out on my left knee which is suffering from tendonitis. I won't go into great detail but the procedure was called 'dry needling' and they aggravate the tendon in the hope of it starting to self heal. The procedure wasn't painful as I was well numbed, however I had to be a good patient and was not allowed to do anything for 7 days so had a week off my part time role as a football coach for kids. I was not allowed to return to jogging for two weeks after the procedure.

So last Tuesday evening (31/01/12), I was back in the running gear in the freezing cold (it's been as cold as -10 overnight here during the last week) and went for a gentle 4 mile jog. I'm pleased to say there was no reaction from the knee, so all good. A further 10k run was carried out last Thursday and again the knee felt good and I got round in a personal best time of 50 minutes which was really pleasing for the second run back. The run on Thursday also took us through the 100 mile barrier in respect distance covered in training which started on 04/12/11.

All looks positive and I hope to step up the distance of the runs once again, the furthest distance that I have covered so far was a half marathon training run of 13.1 miles which I covered in 2 hours 6 minutes which again was pleasing as this is the furthest I have ever run in my life and without stopping!   

Thank you so much to everyone that has been kind enough to donate on my Just Giving Page so far, I am currently at £250 which is 12% of the way to my target which I believe is still realistic.

The 21st January saw me turn 31 years of age (thanks to everyone for well wishes and the mainly running themed gifts!) and I feel fitter now than I have felt for at least 3 years which means I am confident that come the 22nd April I will be ready for my gruelling challenge.

I am in the process of entering a couple of pre-marathon competitve runs with my running buddy Dave Dewey. The first is the Goring 10k which is on the 4th March and the second I am hoping is a Half Marathon at the end of March but it looks like I may have left it too late to enter in one of these!

It is now nearly 8 months since we lost Dad and still the pain is there every day. We continue to pull together as a family and help each other through the dark times. It is things like my challenge that keep me going and focused on my goal which is ultimatley raising money and hopefully helping others to avoid the pain that we have all had to go thorough/are going through.

Please, please continue to dig dip and support me for what is a great cause. Cholangiocarcinoma cancer takes more lives each year than the much more well known Cervical cancer and the number of people passing away each year is increasing at an alarming rate. 

Full details of my story are below and I will update my blog again towards the end of February in preparation for my first ever competitve race!

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9th January 2012

Hi to all,

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

On the 22nd April 2012, I have been lucky enough to gain a place in the London Marathon and I will be running/walking/crawling in honour of my dad, Charlie who passed away on the 12th June 2011.

Running the marathon has been a lifetime ambition for me and I'll never forget as a child when I used to awake early on a Sunday morning in spring to watch these thousands of people queuing at the start line to run the tour of London. The event always intrigued me and all the different types of runners who come from all walks of life in an attempt to complete this great event.

I have always been part of a close and happy family, however In November 2009 the foundations of our family were rocked to the core when our dad at 54 years of age became ill and was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, a cancer of the bile duct. Of course my initial reaction was of massive shock but I did not doubt for one minute that my dad (who was the strongest man in the world in my eyes) could beat this illness. However, we quickly learnt that Cholangiocarcinoma was extremely rare and a difficult cancer to treat.

Dad's and our families chosen charity is AMMF who specialise in the research into cholangiocarcinoma cancer that Dad was diagnosed with and it is my family’s goal to raise as much money as possible for this small charity.

Dad had so much to live for and the same year he was diagnosed he had become a granddad three times over to Max, my Jessica and Samiah. Dad was so happy and on top of the world and this is one of the main reasons he fought this terrible disease so hard.  In January 2010 Dad went through major cancer surgery having the whipple procedure, the operation was successful and the tumour was removed. Dad subsequently underwent Chemotherapy until October 2010 with the hope of destroying any stray cells.

A year after diagnosis dad had an area show up on an MRI scan after his chemo which was believed to have been scar tissue and after having it monitored, shortly before Xmas 2010 we had the fantastic news that the tumour had not returned. We had a great family Christmas that year and are thankful that dad could spend this special time with us and his grandchildren.

Early New Year 2011 dad started to fall ill again and in March last year we received the devastating news that the cancer had returned and as there was no further treatments available to dad, the cancer was terminal and it was likely that he had 3-6 months to live. Words cannot describe how the high at the end of 2010 became the biggest low that our family had ever experienced in the space of just a few months.

On June 12th 2010 at 17:10 was the worst moment of my family’s lives. Dad passed away peacefully at home with Mum, me, my sister & brother.

When I look back to the dark days after dad's passing I still do not know how our family got through them, however we found the strength that was so typical of 'Chazzer' throughout his life. We gave dad a fantastic send off at his funeral and I am so proud of the family, especially mum on this day and during my Sister Nicky's wedding day which went ahead only 7 days after dad's passing (this was his dying wish).

When I think about how the heck I am going to run a marathon which is 26.2 miles at a time in my life where I am now in my thirties and have chronic tendonitis in my left knee, I draw on the strength of looking back to how dad coped with his illness. He never moaned when he had every right to say 'why me?' and he never locked himself away and continued to be what he always was and that is a true inspiration to me and the rest of our family.

Due to an ankle injury at the tail end of last year, I could only commence my Marathon training on 04/12/11, which gave me roughly 20 weeks of training. During December I managed to run a combined distance of just over 50 miles (not bad for that time of the year!) and my furthest training run to date was on 06/01/12 when I covered 10.2 miles. I also have a goal to lose around a stone in weight before the Marathon day as it still rings in my ears dad saying ’13 and a half stone was always his football weight in season’ (he would allow himself to add half a stone on out of season!).

Over the next couple of months I aim to gradually increase the distance that I can cover which will then fingers crossed see me over that finish line on 22/04/11.

As you can see I have set myself a challenging fundraising target of £2000, this would be a fantastic amount for a very worthy charity and I know that dad would be so proud of me if I could achieve this. I am not setting myself a cut off date of before the Marathon to raise the money as I am also planning on arranging at least one fundraising event this year which will be a football tournament at The Hithercroft, in Wallingford, hopefully in July.

I will attempt to keep you updated on my progress on this blog every couple of weeks as I plan to complete at least two competitive runs (likely to be the Goring 10k & Wokingham Half Marathon) prior to the big day in April.

The pain of losing dad will never go away and I think about him every day, by continuing to honour him and following his wishes by raising money for his chosen charity gives me a great deal of comfort in difficult times.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please, please dig deep and donate now.