About 28 hours ago I crossed the London Marathon finish line having covered the full 26.2 mile course, accomplishing something I first decided I wanted to do when I was about 12 years old. Now I face an even bigger challenge... Describe the experience in an accessible, not too lengthy, lighthearted and enjoyable to read blog post. I'll give it a go!
I don't think when 12 year-old me dreamed of doing the London Marathon he could have imagined how it would ultimately happen, and certainly not what he would have to endure to get there. But trying to predict a path through life is a fool's game and I think he would have been amazed to learn he possessed that kind of courage and determination.
Yesterday began with a wake up from my night carer Rudo at 0530, which is silly early even if you don't live with MND. Washed, nappy on, transferred, 11 items of clothing later - dressed, and driven to my van ready to head to the start by 0715. All to plan so far.
Internally I'm aware of two things. Firstly I can feel a slight secretion in my chest, which could be indicative of the need to use my cough assist before the race, which is possible but not ideal. More worryingly, my overnight ventilation seems to have massively dried out my nasal passages and my sinuses (a very occasional occurrence). My ventilators in-breath is now temperamentally causing my nasal passages to seal together, severely shortening my breath... this definitely wasn't in the script.
The solution is always to relax (which is a bit more difficult than usual today) and get some extra hydration onboard as soon as possible. I tell day carer Dani what's going on and we sort the hydration out, then I do my best to apply maximum chill mode on the way to the start. I'm well aware though that if things don't improve, I won't be doing this today.
We get parked (in the wrong place apparently) and after a few minutes to chill we get me transferred to the race chair. This is always a bit of a faff because it's important to get right, but after about 15 minutes or so Dani, Dad and Live-in carer Alex have got me properly comfy and warming nicely.
We head to our start area and I say goodbye to Dad, Alex and my mate Eddie, who got up at 0400 to drive the support van, legend. I'm still not sure if I'm starting.
Make our way to our start area which takes a few minutes more than it should have done, get parked up in a bit of space and wait for our wave to open. I'm needing quite a lot of suction due to salivating excessively (normal). Then during one of these suctionings the moment I'd hoped for happens... Hydration has reached critical mass and my nose clears in one disgusting slimy green lump. It's also settled my chest down and I give Dani a little smile, I'm ready to do this!
Just before we head to our pen I've asked my amazing step brother Tom to read a few words I've written to the team. After that it's off to the start and away we go. Read the words Tom read below, and my story of the race in my next post.
If you feel inspired to help us fund more vital research, you can donate here.
Thank you so much for reading.
Sam x
"At the end of last years event I did not think that being here today would be possible. To even be here is a huge accomplishment, and we stand on the shoulders of all those people who's hard work and sacrifice has delivered us to this moment.
So as we move forward today around this event and experience its unique atmosphere, I will endeavour to take a moment regularly and think about those people.
Let's appreciate this opportunity, this chance to be a part of one of the greatest displays of the human spirit on earth. All the time remembering that our participation is the biggest achievement today. Today we will face success and failure, and treat those two imposters just the same.
So let us go now and savour every moment. Thanks to you my incredible team and friends. I love you all"
71 comments
Imagine becoming vastly wealthy overnight. Being a winner of a multi-million-dollar lottery is certainly a life-changing event for almost every single lottery winner. My name is Laura Benson from Chicopee, Massachusetts, the famous PowerBall lottery winner of $758 million (£591m) in 2017. I know many people would wonder how I had won the lottery. Would you believe me if I told you that I did it with spell casting? I met this famous spell caster known as Dr Isa, and he was the one who did it for me. As shocking as it was to me, I also want to encourage all those who need help to try their luck with Dr. Isa, who helped me win the lottery. I believe you’re still going to win with his help, too, just like he did for me. WhatsApp: +2347046030096 Email: > drisaspellcaster@gmail.com
Website: https://drisaspellcaster.wixsite.com/dr-isa
What a powerful spell caster, all my life i have never seen a powerful man like Abdul Basser, i have been playing lottery game for years now and i have never won any reasonable amount of money i was just checking things online and i stumble on a testimony about Abdul Basser on how he helped someone with a lottery game and the person won a very big amount of money at first i never believed in the fairy tails but i just decided to give it a try, so i contacted Abdul Basser through his website at https://africanancientspells.mystrikingly.com and he told me what i need to do, so i did what he asked me to do, the next day in the morning he sent me some lottery number to play so played the game, to my greatest surprise i won a very big amount of money $17millions i was shocked i couldn’t close my eyes because it was a life transformation for me, i just want the whole world to help me thank Abdul Basser for transforming my life i promised him i was going to tell the whole world about him, you can also contact him if you need his help too.
You can reach him via his email basserabdul59@gmail.com or WhatsApp him +27717403094, you can also visit his website https://africanancientspells.mystrikingly.com///youtube.com/shorts/QQazQvYZPuo?https://streamable.com/41l6w0,https://uaeplusplus.com//pages/registerNew/companyRegistered.aspx?ID=zhSdCzxgmk8=
Good day everyone i want to share my amazing testimony on how Abdul Basser blessed my life, i used to work as a cleaner in factory, i have been playing lottery game for long now and i don’t usually win, i came across a testimony of someone testifying about how Abdul Basser casted a lottery winning spell for her and gave her a lottery game to play and she won big amount of money, so i also decided to try my luck, i contacted him through his website and he assured me that he will help me, he told me it will take him two day to cast a lottery winning spell for me, so on the second day he gave me some lottery numbers to play and i went to play the game so on that faithful day i went to check the game to my greatest surprise i won a very big amount $234.2 million that changed my life and my status, i quit working as a cleaner in the factory and i became a company owner. I want you out there to also contact him for your lucky game. You can reach him via his Email basserabdul59@gmail.com or WhatsApp him on +27717403094 you can also visit his website at https://africanancientspells.mystrikingly.com/.https://streamable.com/41l6w0
For Certified experts in CLEANING BLACK MONEY ( BLACK DOLLARS,EUROS,POUNDS,YEN,RANDS,PULAS,SHILLINGS) acquired through lottery award winning,securitycompanies,loans,investment funds and next of kin with Chemical Solution AUTOMATIC, Activation powder, mercury powder and other chemicals. We are the major chemical solution manufacturers in AFRICA and solution suppliers in Europe,America,Asia,Australia, South Africa,Uganda.Kenya,Tanzania,Rwanda,Congo,Botswana,Zimbabwe,Namibia,Mozambique,Zambia,Sudan and all African countries for black dollar cleaning chemical, black dollar notes, black money cleaning chemicals.We have in stock, 100% concentrated solution for sale and our solution price to our customers is affordable based on company rates.All our chemicals are sold with detailed manual guides for comprehensive instructions on how to use the chemical solution without technicians help. AUTOMATIC Black Money Cleaning Machine is also available for RENT, SALE and HUGE AMOUNT cleaning. CONTACT DIRECTOR: Dr. DAN CELL : +27736310260 EMAIL: embalmingpowder@gmail.com ,https://globalssdchemicalcompanysolutionforcleaning.wordpress.com/
Hello everyone, my name is Claire Dorcus from Louisian. I want to share my story about a powerful psychic medium named Prof Ibrahim. I was heartbroken when my fiancé left me without warning, and I spent the last 2 month feeling confused, guilty, and devastated. Desperate for help, I searched online for relationship advice and found Prof Ibrahim, who has helped many people with their relationship problems. I reached out to him, and he promised to bring my fiancé back to me within 42 hours. After following his instructions, my fiancé surprisingly showed up at my doorstep, apologized, and now we’re living happily together again. If you’re having relationship issues, you can contact Psychic medium Ibrahim at:
+27785149508 /
Email:profibrahim98@gmail.com
https://africanspellcaster.mystrikingly.com
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/s1ewUeVVAHk
powerfulspellcastertraditionalhealer27785149508197.home.blog
https://write.as/ibra/
https://rumble.com/v6up0ez-finding-the-best-psychic-in-your-area-27785149508.html
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipOW2O3Qs4DZ8RHkSGMVeW7qCgxM5zPbPni6-KS1
for quick results.