Arthritis Research UK & Phil Packer

Last Updated on Sunday, 11 April 2010 05:50 Written by The Virtual Runner Saturday, 10 April 2010 05:56

I was recently approached by someone and asked to write on my blog about Phil Packer and Arthritis Research UK.  Personally, it was just nice to be asked in the first place (although I am aware it’s for advertisement for them) but I was also interested because a) he’s doing the London Marathon and b) he’s raising money for different charities; one of which happens to be Arthritis Research UK.  My father also suffers from Arthritis (amongst many other things) so this is a charity I can relate to.

Phil Packer

Phil Packer was in the military and ended up getting a severe spinal cord injury and told he would probably never walk again.  Phil went through a lot of stress and struggle after that happened but through it all he ended up being focused and committed to helping those people who also need assistance through what he calls “those dark days”.

Phil wanted to give focus on rehabilitation and raise money for charity which led to him taking part in the London Marathon 2009 and raising money for Help for Heroes.  Phil’s goal was to complete 2 miles a day until he completed the marathon and he achieved his goal!  He started the marathon on 26 April and finished it on 09 May.  He was presented with his finishing medal by Sir Steven Redgrave.

What an amazing achievement for someone who thought they would never walk again.

Now for 2010 Phil is at it again and it seems he’s much quicker!  No more 2 miles a day.  Phil intends to do the 26.2 miles of the London Marathon in 26 hours.  He’s also decided to do each mile for a different charity and the first mile is for Arthritis Research UK.

Arthritis Research UK

Arthritish Research UK is trying to make things better for all arthritis suffers by helping to relieve the pain and helping people to remain active.  They do this by funding research and providing information.

Because arthritis is affecting millions of people in the UK, Arthritis Research UK wants to raise its profile with everyone.  Arthritis Research UK has 10 goals which you can read about here:-

http://www.arthritisresearchuk.org/about_us/our_goals.aspx

If you’re interested in finding out more information about Phil Packer or Arthritis Research UK then you can follow one of the links below:-

http://www.philpacker.com/

http://www.arthritisresearchuk.org/

I hope you all take time to visit both sites and support a great guy doing great things.

Garmin Forerunner 405 (and other things)

Last Updated on Wednesday, 7 October 2009 09:37 Written by The Virtual Runner Wednesday, 7 October 2009 09:37

My wife and daughter are amazing.  They got together and bought me a Garmin Forerunner 405 for my birthday (which isn’t until Nov) and let me have it now!

The 405 is some pretty cool kit and I’m looking forward to giving it a go this weekend on my long run.  I was going to use it this evening for my interval training at the track but it was raining so hard that I didn’t go.  My friend and I decided that we were fairweather-runners and decided to stay in and chill-out instead.

Tomorrow morning and Friday morning I’ll be on the treadmill.  This is mainly because I go at 6am and it’s dark outside at that time so that means I would rather not run the roads around here.  Wed night running club sessions and Sunday long runs are out and about.  Remaining training sessions are at the gym.

I’ve updated my running log (up to 02 October 2009) and I’ve covered a total distance so far of 2529.83km on my virtual run across Canada.  I’ll map out where I am in Canada later on this week and I’ll update the location map as well.

On another note, I’ve been reading my list of blogs lately and I noticed that The Fat Runner has decided to run a half-marathon and is looking for sponsorship in exchange for a listing on his website as advertising space.  Obviously the advertising space won’t make a massive difference to your site (if you’ve got one) but I think it is a worthwile cause to raise money for and I’m also happy to encourage a fellow runner to achieve their goals.  I’m happy that he’s attempting a half marathon and I wish him all the best with his training.  Let’s just hope he keeps blogging and doesn’t be like me with huge gaps in posts!  (sorry)

If you’re interested in sponsoring The Fat Runner or finding out more then you can visit him here:-

http://thefatrunner.blogspot.com/2009/09/half-marathon-madness.html

When it comes to my own ambitions, you probably saw my previous post which was my rejection magazine from the Virgin London Marathon.  I should say my “first” rejection magazine because I’ll probably get others in my lifetime!  Anyway, it doesn’t matter because I have already registered for the Brighton Marathon and I’ve also booked my hotel so I’m all ready.  Just got to do that whole training thing….

It’s getting late now (10:30pm) and I’m sleepy.  I get up a 5:20am every weekday morning and it seems to come quicker every day!  Tomorrow I’m going to do some hill-work and mix it up with a bit of sprinting/intervals as well.