|
|
The London Marathon
2002
 In
April 2002 John Horan, a former committee member of the Kambia
Hospital Appeal, ran 26 miles in the London Marathon to raise
funds for the Appeal..
The reason why John ran for the Kambia
Hospital Appeal:
Richard Kerr-Wilson is a friend and for many
years we worshipped at the same church. For me, and I
suspect many others, he is 'The Kambia Hospital Appeal'.
I needed no persuading, in 1994, to go with him and the Taylors
to experience Kambia. The memory of the two weeks we spent
there will remain with me for ever. I took from the people
there far more than I could give and I suppose to run for the
Appeal and to raise a few pounds in the process was tiny
way of repaying a large debt.
The Marathon:  She
may not have known it but I was quite envious when Chris, my
wife, did the London Marathon in 2000 and raised nearly £4000
for Prostate Cancer and Winston’s Wish. So it was with
some trepidation that I started training for the 2002 event,
having got my place through the ballot.
Brendan Ward, a friend and
international middle distance runner, was a huge help with his
training schedule and guidance. I shall always be grateful to
him, Chris and Nicholas for their encouragement, support and
forbearance without which I would never have managed the hours
of training, sometimes in dreadful weather in February and March.
I need to have targets.
So I decided to aim for a sub four-hour marathon (26.2 miles)
and to raise £4000 to be divided between Douglas House and The
Kambia Hospital Appeal. Douglas House will be a hospice for
people between 16 and 40. Kambia is in Sierra Leone and
needs a new hospital after the old one was burnt to the ground.
Sunday 14 April was a gorgeous
day; not too warm, no wind and bright sunshine. Feeling
nervous but excited I joined the other 34,500 runners and was
profoundly grateful to Chris and Nicholas for finding me at
the start and then for trailing round the course to scream their
support at The Cutty Sark, Canary Wharf and at the final 800
metre mark on Birdcage Walk. I saw them at each point,
thanks to good use of my mobile phone. The
3 hours, 55 minutes and 47 seconds it took me to get round was
the most wonderful experience. I will never forget the
thousands of images; the pain and distress etched on the faces
of some as they either gave up or dragged themselves forward;
the extraordinary support of total strangers as they shouted
‘come on Big John’ (I had BIG JOHN printed on the front of my
running vest); the generosity of grubby handed children as they
offered their sweets to us for energy; the tiny female runner
with ‘JESUS LIVES’ on her back, who always seemed to be just
ahead of me. And the elation as I crossed the line in
The Mall. For the record, I came 10,378th!
A long way behind Paula Radcliffe and our own star, Mark Graham.
It was very special, but
more special than anything was the wonderful generosity of friends,
family and total strangers who responded so magnificently to
my plea for sponsorship. The final total was just under
£6,500! On behalf of Douglas House and The Kambia Hospital
Appeal, ‘THANK YOU!’ both for your money but for
your love, support, encouragement and prayers.
John Horan
|
