Early Days

Just been on the London Marathon website to look at entry for 2007.

As I feared there is a danger that I won't get a place on it but as I can't even apply until August and won't find out until December, I guess I'll have to train with the mindset that I am going.

I realised that if I want to do this I will need need to raise money for a charity. Sponsorship won't be an issue as I will sponsor myself the required amount if necessary. However it does leave me wondering as to which charity I should run for, after all I'm not really running for anyone but myself.

I've already decided that the charity will have to meet the following three criteria:

1) The charity is for the UK.
I'm not a closet racist or anything but I do feel that far too often British money is given to foreign causes that wouldn't exist if that country was run properly. E.g. It's tragic that India has so many 'Railway Children' but Mumbai has (according to my father-in-law who's stopped off there on business) the highest concentration of millionaires in the world. If India is wanting to compete with the UK economically then it can sort out its own messes. The charity doesn't have to be completely free of overseas projects but it has to set out to help people in this country as much as those abroad.

2) The charity does not advertise on television or have sales staff pestering you on the high street.
If you can afford to advertise on TV then you're little more than a company that recycles its profits and you certainly don't need my money. I want money to go towards a cause not a marketing budget. Too many charities have become corporate monsters. I particularly hate it when you're confronted on the high street by someone with a bib on. They aren't helping the charity out of the goodness of their own heart, they're getting paid - usually quite a lot.

3) The charity must potentially benefit anyone.
I don't agree with charities that are only for people of a particular gender, age, race or financial status. The charity must exist to help anyone that needs it. For example anyone could fall on hard times and become homeless. Anyone could contract a terminal illness etc. Few people would benefit from a new sports facility in a 'deprived' area and I don't believe in focussing purely on one disease(e.g. Breast Cancer), no form of terminal illness is worse than another no matter how many people it affects.

Putting the three together it looks like a Hospice or Air Ambulance is the most likely to be the benefactor but if anyone reading this has a suggestion that fits the above criteria I would like to hear about it... The RNLI doesn't advertise on the telly does it?

On a slightly different note I've discovered that tomorrows walk will be nearer 4 miles than 3. It'll be up and down steep hills too so if I make it to work within my 90 minute target I'll be well chuffed.