Childhood friends run the New York Marathon for Sue Ryder

8 February 2012

Childhood friends, Rob Hayes, 35 year old Commercial Manager, and Clive Finlay, 36 year old IT consultant, chose to raise funds for Sue Ryder – Nettlebed Hospice by running in the New York Marathon this year.

Rob and Clive became friends almost 33 years ago, Rob says ‘our mothers became best friends and I have been friends with Clive as long as I can remember’.

Clive shares his story

Being one of the ‘Big’ top 5 Marathons, we knew we would want to compete in either London, New York, Berlin, Paris or Chicago. Both Rob and I wanted it to be a special event being our first Marathon run together. I love New York City so for me, it was an obvious choice for me.

We chose to run for Sue Ryder because the hospice in Nettlebed cared for my mother in her last few months of life when fighting against cancer. I was 15 at the time and have fond memories of the amazing nurses at the hospice, the wonderful house, grounds, and environment which Nettlebed offered.

Both Rob and I have run a number of Marathons (both Reading and Royal Parks) so we were used to this kind of distance but we really had to notch-up the training for this full marathon. I built up to running approximately 20 miles a week during the last 2 months.

To reach our fundraising goal, we decided to target our family, friends, and work contacts for donations. Fortunately, their generosity was enough to make out joint £5000 target. This was a great help, along with a work scheme I have at Symantec which gift matches anything I raise up to the value of $1000.

Preparing for the Marathon

We both hit a couple of low points during our New York Marathon journey. At one point we thought we were behind on the fundraising target but after speaking with Vicki, our local Sue Ryder Running Fundraiser, we sent out personal messages to all of our friends, family and colleagues. We underestimated what a few facebook/email reminders could do to spark a flurry of last minute donations. I also injured my leg slightly two weeks before departing so I was concerned I would not be fit, but fortunately a quick visit to the physio gave me confidence, with advice that plenty of rest and ice treatment would be enough to recover in time.

The most memorable part of my training was running 20 miles for the first time and feeling ok afterwards

The race

The most memorable part of the race for me was the start, crossing Staten Island suspension bridge to "New York New York" being played through the tanoy and everyone singing along.

I would certainly recommend people to choose to run in the New York Marathon. It is a super organised race in an amazing city with over 47,000 runners; you run through all 5 districts with very different identities (i.e. Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Bronx, Harlem). Crowds line the streets through every district. After the race the whole city congratulates the runners.

If anyone is considering running in the New York Marathon in 2012, my advice would be to train well but don't get hung-up on packing in lots of runs. Putting the distance in on feet (i.e. one long run a week) is good enough. Also look forward to seeing the city and getting motivated by the crowds, there is quite an atmosphere! This helps with the uncharted territory of the last 6 miles in particular. I would advise getting out to NYC a day before but staying on for a few days to let the legs recover but also to enjoy the sites before getting on the plane.

New York was an amazing Marathon to take part in and we are now looking to take part in the 2012 Berlin Marathon!

If you would like more information on this story, please contact Victoria Collins on 01491 641 070 or email vicki.collins@suerydercare.org

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