My marathon training was going well and I was comfortably (depends on your definition of comfort) doing 15 miles when I failed to see a pot hole that can be seen from space (See pic this page).  The result was a sprained ankle (see pic on my MacMillan page) and 6 weeks off training. This obviously means I won’t be fit to run the London Marathon this year, which is slightly annoying after training since October and right through the snow and ice this year.  All is not lost though as I can defer my place until next year’s marathon when I will be able to earn all of the generous sponsorship that has been donated.  The good news is that Justgiving.com will extend the lives of my web pages so that those of you who have already generously donated to MacMillan and Noah’s Ark will still appear on the pages next year. As your payments have gone directly to the charities they will not be disadvantaged at all and anyone who hasn’t donated yet but was planning to get around to it now has a whole year to do it.  I’m really disappointed that I can’t run the marathon this year and I hope nobody who has so generously donated feels let down, rest assured that I will be back up and running in a few more weeks and I will earn your money next April.

Thanks for visiting my fundraising page.  Noah's Ark have been helping my nephew since his Grandad died last year and they have done a great job for him and all the others that they help.  I lost my Mum to cancer 25 years ago when I was 14 and since then I have had many friends and relatives affected by cancer, some have been helped by Macmillan cancer care.  An organisation like Noah's Ark would have helped our family enormously when we lost Mum so I have decided to raise funds for both Macmillan and Noah's Ark so that I can try to help both those who have cancer and those who are bereaved.  If you can, please split your donation over both charities but I understand if one charity or the other is more relevant to some of you.  My Macmillan fundraising page is:-

 www.justgiving.com/andrewsmithmarathon2

Every pound for either charity will spur me on, especially during training over the coming cold and wet months.  Thank you for any amount you can donate.  Andy/Ronnie Smith

Donating through Justgiving is quick, easy and totally secure. It’s also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Noahs Ark Trust 1998 Limited gets your money faster and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, Justgiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.

So please sponsor me now!