I'm always amazed at the amount of money raised every year on Marathon day and there are so may good causes to help and support. Often there seems to be a lot of press for the obvious charities and the ones in the news but less focus on the work of some of the smaller charities.
CBeebies' presenter, Alex Winters, has pledged to run the 2010 Virgin London Marathon to help change the lives of youngsters challenged by autism. The TV star from South Wales, will be joined by wife Joanne, producer Adam Redfern and friend Zachary Thomas in an attempt to raise awareness and funds for Caudwell Children's UK Autism Initiative, a project that is helping thousands of children overcome the daily barriers they face by providing a range of autism treatments and therapies.
Previous studies have shown that up to 8% of people with autism contemplate suicide*. When you consider that an estimated 1 in 25 children are on the autistic spectrum, it amounts to tens of thousands of youngsters contemplating ending their lives due to autism and the associated emotional or physical conditions.
Alex, became a new face of CBeebies in January 2009 said: "I was lucky enough to attend the Caudwell Children Butterfly Ball last year alongside my co-presenter, Cerrie Burnell, where I learnt about the vital work the charity does. After talking to the children that had been helped and hearing their stories I was just blown away
"I found out no-one had run the London Marathon in aid of Caudwell Children before and I just thought it was the perfect opportunity to help. The London Marathon is something I've always wanted to do and as a youngster I was quite sporty, so I'm really excited to be taking on the challenge and hope we can raise enough money to make a real difference. It's not going to be easy though and I wasn't expecting to be training in the snow!"
To date Caudwell Children has donated over £11 million to thousands of children with over 300 different medical conditions. The Charity is committed to changing the lives of children by providing individual donations of specialist equipment, treatment and therapy as well as its annual 'Destination Dreams' holiday for families coping with their child's terminal illness.
Anyone wishing to support Alex Winters and the Caudwell Children UK Autism Initiative should visit www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/fantasticfour4
On with the running.
Good luck this week, try and keep the energy level as high as possible by eating and hydrating well, last weeks post will help with that.
Beginners
Day 1: Run 35 minutes
Day 2: Rest
Day 3: Run 35 minutes
Day 4: Rest
Day 5: Run 35 minutes
Day 6: Run jog for 2 hours. Measure your rest periods and ensure you take an isotonic drink with you, start sipping it after 1 hour 15 min's
Day 7: Rest
Intermediates
Day 1: 5 miles easy or take an extra day off, listen to your body.
Day 2: 5 min warm up, then do 5 x 1500m at your half marathon pace with 200m walking recovery in between
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: 6 miles steady
Day 5: 4 miles easy
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: 18 miles easy paced run. Try out your carbohydrate gel or drink on this run.