Shine Walk-a-thon: The stories

I thought I’d let you know of other people ready to ‘Shine’ for Cancer Research UK that have caught my eye, they are to give you a flavour of the bigger picture. We each have our own reasons for helping the charity but we’re all on the same journey.

• Victoria Smith – My story:

“Taking part in the SHINE marathon is not just about raising money for an important cause but also to help me motivate myself to be active. It’s not that I’m lazy or over weight, I just tend to spend far too much time at the desk. I guess this is very common though.

I have written the training plan on my wall and again in my diary. This is to keep track of where I am and how well I’m doing. My first long walk of 90 minutes gave me a sore back but since regularly stretching and applying the core stability exercises, I’ve not had any trouble at all. I do get the ‘jelly legs’ and my thighs sometimes ache but this only lasts for about two hours the morning after.

Victoria Smith with her sister after finishing Race For Life

I prefer to complete the marathon with friends because I feel that as a group activity there’s an element of fun and you have each other to keep you going.

It’s going to be interesting to find out how long it takes to complete the marathon this year and then compare my time with next year. It’s great to know that all the money raised will be going to a vital charity.

If I was offered to do this marathon and be paid, I wouldn’t. There there wouldn’t be a purpose behind it and the pressure would be too much. At least we know we can take it at our own pace and so long as we complete it, it doesn’t matter how long it takes so long as the money is flooding in.“

Victoria works in PR and Comms and spends spare time blogging and building up a photography portfolio.  Victoria is also the person who introduced me to ‘Shine’ inviting us to join her on the walk and is to blame for making me wearing blue neon clothing.  You can follow Victoria on Twitter @smithvictoria.

• Kelly Innes: I am born to shine. Are you?

“The best thing about Dimples being born, aside from having her in our lives of course, was the trip to the hospital. To most women at the end of pregnancy this wouldn’t have even registered, but to me it was an adventure because for the first time in weeks, I got to leave the house. SPD, or Pelvic Girdle Pain as it is now better known, had rendered me wheelchair- and, for a good chunk of the snowy winter, house-bound for the best part of my third trimester.

My life bore no resemblance to the life I had when I found out I was expecting. I had a nanny for PD because I couldn’t lift her, change her nappy, put her in bed, or go to playgroup with her. I basically sat and watched someone else raise my child for a while. I had a pair of crutches for getting up and downstairs (a trip I made once a day), a special wing-backed chair to sit in because our sofas were too low, a zimmer frame for getting around the ground floor, a dog-walker for the dog. Even my husband was chief cook and bottle washer from the moment he walked in the door. I had been, and continued to be, on painkillers for months.

12 weeks after her birth I was finally able to walk unaided to playgroup. Which is at the end of my road. By June, I was able to get on a plane and go on a well-earned break. August saw my discharge from the care of the hospital Physio and in September my specialist trainer was back in my life. Ellie did an amazing job getting me back on my feet after my first pregnancy which was also blighted by SPD, though not to the same extent.

Cancer Research Shine website

This time around, the damage was much worse: it has taken longer to train the muscles I rely on to hold my pelvic frame together. It has taken longer to get my strength back. Whereas first time round I had a target: wanting to have a second child when I was strong enough; this time I knew there wouldn’t be another baby. I thought seriously about the London Marathon or the Great North Run (laughable not least because I have never been a runner. I don’t think that the words run and fun should ever appear in the same sentence) but have been told that my tenuous pelvic frame rules out running. Ever. Which is a plus.

Sadly, in December, my Gran died after a short battle with cancer. Though very upsetting, her death helped me with a goal. I discovered that Cancer Reasearch were organising Shine, a walking event, in October 2011 and signed up. Given that I couldn’t walk a kilometre without being in great pain, DH advised caution and so I committed myself to a half-marathon, and began training. The event has given me something to aim for, and will help me honour the memory of my grandmother.

My t-shirt and fundraising pack arrived in the post this morning, reminding me that there are a less than 12 weeks until 1^st October 2011, when I will put my knackered body to the test. 18 months since Dimples’ arrival and I can now walk 5 miles. If you had met me when I was whale-like and wheel-chair bound, that would have seemed an impossible feat. Yet here I am, training, raising sponsorship and asking if you have any plans on 1^st October. If not, consider tagging along!“

Kelly is a blogger and a Twitter member that I follow (@domesticgoddesq), her blog is entertaining and caught my eye because she was also on a training journey and although our reasons are different, it’s inspiring for me to know people like Kelly are walking along side me on the night.

• Sharon Rose– Cancer Survivor:

Sharon is a breast cancer survivor and has detailed on her website singlesalsasurvivor.com:

“I have shared my experiences from my own perspective in the hope that my story helps and supports other cancer sufferers to believe in their recovery and future.“

Sharon reminds me of the cancer survivor I spoke to all those years ago and also gives me hope for a family member of mine who’s recovering now.

• Denise C – Why Shine?

The last couple of years my health hasn’t been great, nothing major but certainly not helped by the fact that I spend a large part of the week behind a desk and drive around 40,000 miles a year!

I signed up for Shine late last year and my aims were 2-fold. Get fit(ter) and raise money for research into prostate cancer.

Cancer has affected my family and friends in many different ways and I have been a long time supporter of cancer charities but last year my stepdad was diagnosed with prostate cancer, purely by fluke, due to a routine blood test given to the over 60s in France (where he and my mum live).

I strongly believe there should be more funding for cancer research but I also wanted to raise awareness of male cancers amongst my friends and work colleagues who I have been asking to sponsor me and mum. Yes, its not just me doing the walk but my mum too.

Training is hard, not because I don’t want to do it, I really do! But because I have limited time and generally when I get home from a long day, having driven 200 or so miles if its been a particularly bad day, I just want to stop.

However, what keeps me going is mum and I have a raised over double our original fundraising target and I have got people talking about male cancers, not just prostate cancer but testicular cancer which my younger brother got at the age of 16.

My stepdad, and brother, are both pictures of health now but that is only due to the treatment they got, and for my stepdad it being caught early. But someone else might not be so lucky so, because I am able to, I want to do my bit and give back and hopefully more lives will be saved.

Denise caught my eye on Twitter under the #shine2011 and I was impressed that she’s raised so much money with her Mum so I thought it would be good to find out more.  It is great to know that people are pouring in the pounds for such a good cause.  You can follow Denise on Twitter @blondiedc77

My Shine walk log:

• July 21st
• July 8th
• August 3rd

You can sponsor me via our fundraising page. You can follow Shine Walk-a-thon on Facebook and Twitter @CR_UK or #shine2011

If you want to share you’re story feel free to get in touch (writingspace@hotmail.co.uk ) or comment below.