Great Limerick Run

Hi All ,

Back with this weeks update of how far I have walked and what I have been upto this week. I had quite a busy week just gone and unfortunately didnt get an opportunity to do a blog post. Upto last Sunday I had completed 496km in total and this week I have managed to notch up another 51.6km. The week started out quite badly compared to my previous weeks by Wednesday I had walked very little. I thankfully turned this around notching up 51.6km. Total distance covered after 12 weeks 547.6km and another 1lb down currently 14 stone 11 1/2.

This week like I said was quite busy for both myself and Sarah, we had Luke's first birthday and party. I decided on Friday morning that I would enter the Great Limerick Run. Its something I had toyed with in my mind for the last number of weeks. My biggest fear about entering the 6 mile run was that firstly I had done very little running in the distance I have covered and would I be able to keep pace. Anyone that knows me I am very capable of doing something on the spur of the moment and I am so happy that I decided to do this. I have honestly never felt so good about doing something for the simple reason I was able to complete a 6 mile run. When I started this 3 months ago I never anticpated first of all losing this much weight let alone being able to enter something like the Great Limerick Run. I have never been very good at sporting activities , I tried my hand at soccer a few times but this is one of the only times I walked away and said this was the best achievement I accomplished.

 To date I have raised €751.63 for the NMH Foundation and hope maybe I can raise some more over the next 3 weeks. When I think back to the start of this walk I thought to myself why do I want to do this and why do I care. I care for obvious reasons,  but the reason why I chose to do this is because some guy in Newport in Tipperary just getting out of the house and walking can raise a bit of money for a really worthy cause is something so easy, I never once thought I would enjoy walking as much as I have. If your fortunate enough in life not to need assitance from the NMH foundation then just giving a bit to help goes a long way. I hope that I can help this worthy charity out more and more over the years to come as a sign of respect to them and hope this encourages me to keep this walking up and maybe next year I will be able to run the 6 mile GLR.

This coming weekend I will be taking part in Darkness into Light something again I have wanted to do for sometime so please have a read on next weeks post... Donation link..

148km to complete over the next 3 weeks , I am currently in Andoversford in Cheltenham. A small town based in the Cotswold with a population of just 555 people in 2011. Andoversford is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England, about six miles east of Cheltenham. The parish had a population of 668 according to the 2001 census, reducing to 555 at the 2011 census.^[1]

The village runs parallel to the A40 and is on the River Coln. Amenities include a post office, two community or village halls, a primary school, pubs called the Royal Oak and the Kilkeney Inn, a shop and disused animal stock market currently being developed into a small housing estate.

In addition to its own primary school, the village was in the catchment area for several schools. These used to include the Charlton Kings Schools, Balcarras (located in Charlton Kings) but is now only in the priority catchment area for Cotswold School. Andoversford is located on the bus routes for the Balcarras, Cotswold and St Edward's(private) schools. A variety of private schools are also within reach.The village used to have a doctor's surgery, which was a branch of the Sixway's clinic and which is now closed.

The village has a community atmosphere and several meeting areas (pubs, schools, church, social club, play ground, etc) as well as annual events. These include point to point events on the point to point course, an annual pig roast,and a music festival (Andoverfest). The village also supports a football team, a cricket team and has Cubs and Scout groups as well as social events.

Andoversford has three nearby golf courses.

Cheltenham town is five minutes by car; Gloucester is 25 minutes.