Reading Roadrunners
www.readingroadrunners.org/charity.htm

Fundraising total for 2009 = £31,892

10 December
Still time to raise a few more bob! Charity update by Steve Lee
Continuing where I left off last time, June Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund Trustees are so impressed by our fundraising efforts that as many as five of them wish to attend the Dinner Dance for the presentation of the cheque.
In fact they have already paid for their tickets!
We now stand at some £32K comprising:

Cash in the Nat West Reading Roadrunners Charity account.
This now stands at over £25K and will rise as it does not yet include donations from the Club, for example from the Bramley 20/10 and the Shinfield 10K. This will be the amount on the actual cheque we shall had over.

Cash collected online via Justgiving
This amounts to almost £5K. This is already with the Charity

Gift aid added to the Justgiving donations
This accounts for over £1,200. This likewise is already with the Charity

Direct Donations
Over £600. This is where donors – often organisations – have sent cheques direct to the charity. However they have made it clear that these were in response to our campaign.
We have done amazingly well and our task is almost over. However, this is not quite the end of the road, as we still have a few tricks up our sleeve!
If you are up for a final fling, maybe try a sponsorship?

Fancy a Tri for Charity?
On Weds 18th November at 06:45am(!) an Indoor Sprint Triathlon was held at the David Lloyd Leisure Centre at Thames Valley Park.  An ‘entry fee’ of £10 was donated by all participants to the club charity.  The formula of a quick burst of energy before breakfast proved irresistible to the 16 competitors. This is what they did:   400m swim (indoor pool = 16 lengths) - 10km cycle (on a spinning bike level 10) - 2.5km run (on a treadmill any speed).

Such was the success of the event that another has been planned for Thursday 28th January.  This time David Lloyd will host a morning, lunchtime and evening session.  If you are interested in participating or require more details, please email Lucy Reach (lucyr@microsoft.com<mailto:lucyr@microsoft.com>).  Numbers may be restricted so please act fast!!

You do not need to have ever done a triathlon before and the event truly caters for all abilities.  It’s about having fun, mixing up your training and raising money for a fantastic charity.

Poetry event
Proceeds to the June Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund

Moondogs
167a Oxford Road, Reading
Thursday 3 December, 8pm

14 November
Fundraising total for 2009 now £30,000 and rising!
For Reading Roadrunners it was ONE HELLUVA HECTIC SUMMER on the charity front. Their campaign on behalf of JHMRF brought their collection total for 20 years (they started in ’89) to over £400K. And now they have passed the £30K mark for JHMRF itself.

How do they do it? The sources of income are diverse. Trick is: never miss a chance to raise a few bob! This year the car boots alone brought in some £8K and over the years many, many, many thousands of pounds.  The Mortimer 10K organised by the Club in September did very well and we expect to receive about £1,800 from that quarter. Thanks to Sandy Sheppard and her helpers for their hard work.

We also thank the Berkshire Hash House Harriers (the self-dubbed “drinking club with a running problem”). They supported Mortimer and on the day were out in force with 57 runners entered. They helped boost entries in other ways meaning more dosh for charity. The Hash also organised a post-race Garden Party, the proceeds of which (some £400) went to JHMRF. Finally at their recent AGM they voted to donate another £400. Altogether we have received over a grand from them.

Other sources of income over the summer were the Great Sponsorships: Chris Manetta’s amazing Hellespont Swim which raised around £2K, Caroline Judge’s hilly Henley Half which attracted over £1,100, including £400 from the Bank of Ireland, and Ed and Toby’s epic conquest of Mount Snowdon, also resulting in around £1,100.
Then there were contributions from sources as diverse as: Donation of £50 from Thames Valley Triathletes after we organised marshals for the Concord Tri; £85 from the Trail Runners Association for marshals; £180 from the ever enterprising David & Diane for the sale of their agricultural produce; and £105 from the Mortimer 10K Tombola and Cakes stall. And now our resident roadrunner poetess Kathy is bringing out a book of racy ditties – all in aid of JHMRF. As they say: Every Little Helps!  

22 September
Reading Roadrunners have come up with a new cunning plan to raise money for JHMRF. Hot on the heels of Chris Manetta's epic swim across the Hellespont (see below), Ed Dodwell and Toby Laver will tackle the Snowdonia Marathon on 24th October. This will be Toby's 50th marathon, while his team mate Ed faces a particular challenge, in that he was hit by a motorcycle travelling 30 mph while out running last March. After a gruelling 10 hour operation his pelvis has been rebuilt and he now has four metal plates and 28 pins in his hip. He has started to run again, albeit gingerly, but this time he plans to walk to the summit while Toby runs. Have a look at their Justgiving site to see how they are doing! http://www.justgiving.com/tobyanded/

31 August
On Sunday 30th August Chris Manetta swam from Asia to Europe across the Hellespont. On that day - National Remembrance Day - the Turkish authorities close off the shipping (including the Russian tankers that go up through to the Black Sea) to enable the race to take place. Here are Chris's comments after the event: 

"I finished in a time of 59 mins 04 secs. Great stuff because I had hoped it was going to be around 65 mins. Now I realise I could have been faster and in fact believe a time of 56 mins is game on for next year. This time gave me 58th place out of 288 starters and I finished 4th in my age category missing out on a third place by just over a minute. This fund raiser has, to date,  received over £1400-00. Brilliant, if I say so myself! And if anybody who hasn't and would still like to donate some monies for this achievement and ultimately for the greater cause of the JHMRF then please feel free!" http://www.justgiving.com/chrismanetta/

5 June
On Sunday 30th August 2009 the Turkish authorities on their National Remembrance Day close off the shipping (including the Russian tankers that go up through to the Black Sea) in support of a swim race from asia to europe, a distance of about 5K across the Hellespont. It is a race that is normally closed to foreign entrants but is now attracting swimmers from all around the globe. Inspired by a running buddy at the Reading Roadrunners Club and fellow cerocer (modern jive dancer), Steve Lee,  Chris Manetta will make this daunting journey into something else.
http://www.justgiving.com/chrismanetta

1 June - Red Hot Bagels
READING ROADRUNNERS’  campaign on behalf of JHMRF is set to receive a boost from an unexpected – this time musical – quarter.

Friends of mesothelioma sufferer Steve Lee, who is running the campaign, play in a ban quirkily called the Red Hot Bagels. They fall under the “world music” category, or more specifically Klezmer – an East European Jewish style.

Their new album Big Bang is on sale now at £10, of which they will give £8 to the June Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund.

You can read more about this latest initiative here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire/content/articles/2009/05/27/redhotbagels_steve_lee_feature.shtml
And you can listen to some tracks by visiting the band’s site at:
http://www.myspace.com/redhotbagels
Please email the band through myspace - or to elainehguy@googlemail.com, if you'd like to order a CD!

12 May - A cool ten grand!
Steve Lee reports: As of early May, Reading Roadrunners have collected just over £10K for JHMRF. And we still have till December 31st to make this a record haul. This has been possible thanks to the principle that “every little helps” – so the contributions range from individual sponsorships running into many hundreds of pounds to £4 for 4 bundles of rhubarb sold at our first car boot which got rained off! The second car boot by contrast netted about £650! Providing tea and cakes at races has proved lucrative bringing in over £1K at one event and £236 at another. Then we have had donations including £25 from Thames Water (via an employee who runs with us) and £250 from Jo Jingles (Music for Pre-School Kids). Indeed three kids aged 5, 6 and 7 had a whip-round one day at play in the garden producing £4.50! Another big earner has been bucket collections, especially at the Reading Half (about £1,700). Watch this space!

17 April - A very memorable day - Charity update by Steve Lee
It now looks as though Reading Roadrunners managed to raise a princely £4K+ in a single day, thanks to sponsorship, bucket collection, refreshment sales and miscellaneous donations. Let me at once add that this figure constantly needs revising... upwards, as more money comes in.

Buckets alone netted, if that’s the right word, a stunning somewhere between £1,600 and £1,800 nicker in loose change! It actually took far longer to count it that it takes Kathy Tytler to run 100 miles!!!

I speak of course of the tally from the Reading Half, which means our total for the year so far is over £7K.
Indeed generally our charity work is a record of which to be intensely proud, alongside our Club’s team and individual achievements over the years in diverse running events.

Many of the latter were chronicled two years ago, when we celebrated the 20th anniversary of our existence.  This year we pass another milestone: 20 years of startling success in collecting for charity!

It started back in the mists of time with the Royal Berks Incubator Appeal. Later we raised money for Arthritis, Autism, Epilepsy, Special Olympics, Diabetes, Help The Aged and the Thames Valley Air Ambulance - to name but a few. Full details will shortly be on our website.

Did you know that during this time – but not counting this year – the total raised is £378,766!!! That means that this year there is a realistic prospect we shall reach that magical £400K mark. Please continue to help me make this happen!

4 April - BBC website
More coverage for the Reading Roadrunners on the BBC website.

3 April - new total
The Reading Roadrunners have reached a new milestone in their fundraising: £5088.78.

Reading Half Marathon 2009
Report on the Reading half marathon on the BBC website

Reading Roadrunners in the Reading Chronicle
Reading Roadrunners' fundraising campaign for the JHMRF has taken off with a front page photo spread in the weekly Reading Chronicle.  Steve Lee has also appeared on the BBC Radio Berks web site, see
http://www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire/content/articles/2009/03/11/lung_cancer_feature.shtml

The story behind the new club charity – by Steve Lee
It’s a bit of a mouthful: The June Hancock Mesothelioma Research Fund.  In case you don’t know, mesothelioma is a form of lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. I myself got on the wrong side of a stray fibre (that’s all it takes) some 35-40 years ago. I’ve no idea exactly when this momentous collision took place. My father died of the disease so I guess we may have got clobbered together. Either on a building site (where I worked with him during hols while a student at Cambridge) or in the prefab asbestos bungalow we lived in on Canvey Island.  Hence my very personal involvement with this Charity.

It was not till about three years ago that I experienced some discomfort while running. Eventually I went to the doctor. Since I was still managing to run 10+ miles he thought it could not possibly be a lung thing. Over a period I had all my other vital organs tested. I did the ECG heart stress test on a treadmill and was pronounced “extremely fit”. Till finally an ultra-sound picked up a large pleural effusion.  That means fluid on the lungs. This set alarm bells ringing and diagnosis followed soon after. There is not a lot that can be done.

Due to my general fitness I was offered a place on a clinical trial called MARS (Mesothelioma and Radical Surgery).  They said: We’ll rip out your right lung then give you debilitating chemo- and radio- therapy. The risks: you might die. The benefits: just maybe we might be able to eradicate the cancer, though nobody really knows. They said this is probably the most difficult decision anyone could be called on to make. Hmm, I thought, probably Sophie’s Choice was even worse (where Sophie had to decide which of her two children went to the gas chamber). Some patients decide by tossing a coin, but I said: No thanks very much, I’ll take my chances.

So that’s where I am today. I decided to do nothing besides having 4-monthly checkups, meaning an X-ray to monitor the fluid level. I seem to be ticking over not too badly. For some 18 months I told just a few family and friends. Not that I was in denial but just wanted to enjoy life - with my new wife Ros. I proposed to her even as it was becoming apparent I was up shit creek. I said: You have to decide to stay with me through thick and thin – or walk. She opted for the former!! So we got married very quickly – so quickly wags quipped I had got her in the family way!

Strange how the best and the worst moments of one’s life should coincide. I have had a wonderful 18 months or so while I came to terms with my fate. I continued Ceroc dancing (that’s how I met Ros). And also during this time I resumed my running – or rather jogging – especially enjoying Wednesday sessions in Kathy and Jackie’s group. Neither knew about my troubles and so on occasion (as all coaches do), they accused me of slacking...
 Running seemed to make me feel better. I soon realised the doctors thought it unusual for someone with a serious lung complaint to be running at all. Especially when carrying around a couple of litres of pleural fluid.

Then I told Ros I was thinking of coming “out of the closet”, as it were. I quickly explained I meant coming clean about my illness! The AGM seemed the ideal arena. It was hard to stand up and explain why I was putting forward this charity. But I wanted some good to come out of my personal tragedy. And I thought the commitment – just like the running – would do me good, boosting my immune system.

Vanessa Bridge – Head of Media at Leeds University and a Charity Trustee – rearranged her half term holiday to visit her sister in London, so she could more easily get to Reading. She outlined the three-pronged approach of the Fund namely: - a) Research b) Increasing awareness and c) Helping with care and carers.  More work needs to be done finding a cure instead of just taking palliative measures. Between us we were a big hit at the AGM (you could have heard a pin drop), given the number of RRR members who came up to me after offering to help. Vanessa was overwhelmed as was I.

I had already enlisted the support of some key players in the Club charity field such as Tim Povey, Sid Gibbs and  Geoff Chaffer, as well as seeking advice from Chairman Glynne. And I spoke to Stan Eldon at the Dinner Dance about press coverage. Indeed Vanessa herself is a media specialist – a former journalist and now a PR person - so between us we hope not only to raise money, but also appreciation of the benefits of running...  and the profile of Reading Roadrunners in particular!

So I have the commitment, the time and the energy to mount a serious campaign... my other qualification being previous experience with a Club Charity, as I ran the National Autistic Society effort in the early 90s.

Please watch the Newsletter and Notice Board for Charity updates. Periodically we shall be asking for your help throughout the year. And if you have any bright fundraising ideas don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Sponsorship is always a good road to go down. So if you are doing a big race – or indeed any race – and have a substantial captive audience at work – ask me for a form and go twist a few arms. It’s hard work but worth it. We are also looking for raffle prizes and objects to sell at the forthcoming car boots. 

February 2009

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