It
was at this time that I
first learned of the
work of CRY and became
aware of the risks
involved with undetected
cardiac conditions in
young people.
In a
country whose culture
very much centres around
sports of all types, it
was always my intention
after this to play my
part in raising
awareness of the risks
involved and at the same
time raise money to
allow CRY to continue
their very valuable
work.
After
much soul searching I
thought what better way
to celebrate Michelle’s
life than to really rise
to a challenge which in
my book seemed almost
impossible at the end of
March 2010.
I, a
very unfit woman of 48
who had never run
before, would attempt
the feat of completing
the 26.2 miles of the
Dublin Marathon at the
end of October 2010.
So,
assisted by my sister
Theresa - who is very
fit - I started to
train. On my first run I
ran a quarter of a mile
and then had to have my
husband John come and
collect me in the car.
Not to be deterred, I
persevered. With the
thought of Michelle and
the beautiful life I
would be celebrating I
soon got to grips with
the gruelling training
sessions which quite
often had me out running
at 6am on cold wet
mornings.
When
it came to fundraising I
contacted the people at
CRY who were delighted
that I had chosen their
charity to support and
provided me with their
charity pack and
information on how to
set up an account with
Virgin Money Giving.
This
proved to be very
productive in raising
funds. Given that we
live in an electronic
world I was able to send
out large numbers of
emails and mobile phone
texts to a large number
of people informing them
of my charity run and
providing them with the
website to donate.
The
donations just poured
in, but more importantly
a lot of people
contacted me a told me
of their shock at the
statistics that 12 young
people a week die of
undetected heart
conditions in the UK.
In
a lot of occasions they
indicated that it had
made them consider the
risks involved with
their own kids who play
sport and had made
inquiries about
screening.
Another way of raising
funds was to get two of
the local football clubs
to sponsor both mine and
my sister Theresa’s
shirts for the race.
The
local clubs, St Peter’s
GFC and Sunnyside FC,
were delighted to be
associated with the
charity and it provided
much publicity for the
work of CRY among those
involved with children
in sport at grass roots
level. Again the
donations flowed in and
St Peter’s GFC members
also carried out their
own fund raising for the
event.
The
girls of the Maze
Presbyterian Church in
Lisburn - of which
Michelle was a member -
ran a pampering evening
with all proceeds for
the evening going to
CRY.
I
also persuaded our local
paper “The Lurgan Mail”
to run a feature on the
charity run which
provided much needed
publicity for CRY and
the donations continued
to flow in.
I had
set an original target
of £500, but at time of
writing we have crossed
the £2500 mark and have
pledges which hopefully
with gift aid will
exceed £3000.
My
work at that stage was
far from over, however.
I still had to repay
people's faith in me by
running the Marathon.
On
the morning of the 25th
October I set off with
my sister Theresa, my
husband John and friend
Teresa for the start
line. The weather on the
day was beautiful - just
ideal for marathon
running.
The
atmosphere in the city
was electric. Lining up
at the start line I was
terrified but the
atmosphere of the
occasion soon allowed
these feelings to give
way to ones of
excitement.
The
route for the Dublin
marathon is beautiful
and the people of Dublin
who had come out to
cheer us on were
absolutely marvellous.
They
cheered and encouraged
and drove on the weary
runners like only they
can do.
At 18
miles, when I was almost
ready to concede defeat,
I arrived at a water
point only to see my
daughter Fiona and my 3
year old grandson Reece
cheering wildly.
They
had travelled to Dublin
for the day to surprise
me. Reece (pictured left
with me at the finish
line) was sporting a
T-shirt with 'Good Luck
Nanny' on it and
screaming wildly "Go
Nanny Go!".
Although, after seeing a
Buzz Lightyear running
he changed his
allegiance and cheered
"Go Buzz Go!".
This was the
encouragement I needed
to get me the final 8
miles.
I
completed in 5 Hours 7
minutes and as you can
see from the pictures
coming up to the closing
stages I was well in the
lead and was only pipped
at the post by 9104
people.
Crossing the finish line
was one of the greatest
experiences of my life.
As I crossed the finish
line I thought of
Michelle who had so much
to live for and whose
life had ended far, far
too soon.
I was
so proud to have been
able to celebrate her
life in this way and I
was also so humbled to
be able to play a very
small part in helping to
save the lives of young
people.
Kathleen McStravick
