Mehmet Sekayi

53, Managing Director

Charity: Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY)

Pledge: £1,750

Raised: £9,819

Time: 4hrs 56 mins

I was motivated to run my first marathon after the tragic loss of my brother who died of a cardiac arrest in 2009.  He was only 52 years and was perfectly fit and healthy and it really  home to me just how vulnerable people are.  I wanted to run for a charity that meant something to me and my family and I chose CRY because I thought my fundraising would have more of an impact for a smaller, less well-known heart charity. 

I was confident that I could raise the minimum sponsorship amount but the generosity people showed was overwhelming and I exceeded it by a long way.  I didn't  organise any events or parties.  I just wrote to business contacts, clients, friends and family personally.  I explained the reason behind my fundraising and I think it touched people.  Using Virgin Money Giving allowed people to leave personal messages, and the more people pledged, the more I was determined to succeed. 

In addition to the support of close family and friends, I received donations from more surprising sources such as some of my suppliers who donated materials to me free of charge; when I sold them on, the monies were credited to my fundraising page.  My chiropractor also offered her fee back to me as a pledge to CRY.  I suppose this just shows that you should always be ready to explore less obvious fundraising ideas. 

I also contributed an amount at the end of the process as I didn't think it was fair to ask people to donate money without putting anything in myself.