Day 24-Part 2- The final run!!

Apologies if you have been waiting for my final blog but I got a little bit tied up enjoying the Festive celebrations!!

Day 24- I was worried about completing my last run so late at night but I actually really enjoyed it. Here I am preparing my sack and the other one with Chris, just before we set off!!

We set off and it felt strangely very warm!! There was still snow on the grounds but it did feel very mild. I think when I have been used to running in -9 temperatures then a -1 was considerably warmer !!!It was actually a beautiful night with lots of stars in the sky, I kept out looking out for the real Santa on his sleigh so he could give us a lift !!!

 It was a bit surreal running so late at night especially in a Santa Costume, I am not sue I will ever be running on xmas eve at that time of night again!! Here is a short video clip , proving I did complete the run in the Santa Costume !

and just in case the video doesn't work...

There wasn't much traffic on the roads but a couple of taxi's went past and beeped their horn at us to keep us going. I also had lots of people sending cheers via my facebook account, a big thank you to everyone that sent one because it kept us both smiling and it was lovely to know there were people there cheering us on!!

The final 2km was tough on the both our legs but all I kept thinking was, this is it, only 2km to go, nothing compared to the 238km I had already done!!! Here is proof I have completed the 240km!!

It was an amazing feeling finishing and completing the run with Chris. I couldn't have asked for anyone better to finish my last run with me, he has been a massive support to me throughout December and couldn't have done it without his help,xx

I also want to say a massive thank you to EVERYONE who has been so generous in supporting the "claus", to everyone that has cheered me on and given their money, I couldn't have done it without you. My total sponsor is currently at £2236 which is a fantastic amount and will make a massive difference to the kids at Martin House.  The last couple of photo's of me getting a well deserved rest!!! The funny thing was I actually stuck to the lampost I am laid on because it was so frosty!! he he

Time for bed....... Good night and I hope you all had a fab Xmas and best wishes for 2011, who knows what the challenge will be for 2011!!xxxxx

Day 24 -Part 1

Isn't Xmas Eve exciting?? As well as Santa Claus visiting all the children and leaving exciting presents, there is one crazy Santa preparing for a 10k run tonight!! Do you think I will be the only one, I think so!!

I wanted to write two blogs today. This first one is dedicated to my great friend Maggie who has wrote this beautiful poem for me. When I read it today, I cried before I could reach the end of the it. Enjoy reading it and I will let you know if it comes true later!!!

'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, when all through the house

Not creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

By Noah’s bed, the stocking was hung with care

In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

And Noah was nestled all snug in his bed,

While visions of ‘Ben 10’ danced in his head.

Chris was watching some Christmas Eve’ crap

And Diane was striving to keep from a nap.

When the clock came to midnight, they both stopped their chatter,

Diane sprang from the couch to deal with the matter;

She tied up her laces as quick as a flash,

Thinking of all the sponsorship cash.

Out her front door, she stepped onto the snow,

Looking out at the lights of the houses below.

Clad in a red suit, with orange t-shirt beneath,

Her neighbours looked on in pure disbelief.

Bidding farewell to her husband and child

Diane was grateful the weather was mild;

Not nearly as frozen as the days gone before

As the thermometer read a warm minus four.

Starting her Nike+, so lively and quick,

She ran through the street dressed just like St Nick.

More rapid than Rudolf the reindeer was she,

As Diane set off for a final PB.

When at the end of the road, there did suddenly appear,

A miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

She knew in a moment that it was St Nic.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And Diane laughed when she saw him, in spite of herself.

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Let Diane know she had nothing to dred.

“Is that Dasher, Dancer, Prancer and Vixen?

Oh… and Comet, Cupid and Donner and Blitzen?”

The man dressed in rouge, stepped down from his sleigh;

He stood in front of Diane, laughing away

“Ho, Ho, Ho, Ho”, he chuckled with glee

“I see that you do recognise me.

Why Diane, I am the real Santa Claus

And I’m here to help you with your festive Cause.”

Winking at Di, his eyes gave a twinkle,

He smiled big and wide, showing his dimple.

Then, speaking not a word, he went straight to his work,

Pulling a laptop free from his sleigh with a jerk.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/DianeChapman he typed into the pad,

And he sponsored Diane as much as he had,

Now Santa’s work is voluntary as we know,

But even the smallest amount has far to go.

Diane thanked him so much and wished him the best

As he sprang back on his sleigh and set off to the west.

Di finished her 24th run for the children in need

At Martin House Hospice on that cold Christmas Eve.

Meanwhile, Santa continued the rest of his rounds

Feeling glad he could help with just a few pounds;

And he bellowed from his sleigh as he flew out of sight:

 “Happy Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight!”

Day 23- My last daylight run in normal clothes!!

The end is drawing near, I have run 230km, wait, I have to write it again because I can't really believe I have done it, 230km!!! This also means I am nearly at the end of my "festive runs for a good claus" blogging!! Even though it has been a very tough challenge and has tested my willpower a lot, I have enjoyed a lot of my running and the blogs I have written. I am therefore a little bit sad that it is coming to an end although I think my body and legs are grateful for a rest!!

Today, I set off running in the light, which was a luxury for me but it was still minus something!! My brother sent me a lovely motivational note today and also told me that in Leeds the average morning temperature had been -2 for December and has been one of the coldest December's recorded. When I set my challenge, I knew I was probably going to experience some bad weather conditions but I am not sure I signed up for it being so cold, icy and snowy but it has added to the fun and to be honest, it beats the wind and the rain!!

But I cannot complain about the weather because when I set this challenge, I was determined to do it no matter what the weather through at me. The reason, for the families and children at Martin House Children's Hospice. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to have a poorly child at Xmas or at any time of year and I am lucky to have such a healthy and beautiful little boy and nieces. I decided to try and spread a bit of xmas cheer and spirit and at the same time raise as much money as I could for Martin House. I set off with a £500 target in mind and would have been really pleased if I had managed to raise this amount. But I am honestly overwhelmed by the generosity of people and I have managed to raise £1893 and it is still increasing!  Thank you to EVERYONE, you have done a fantastic thing for Martin House and helped me through every step of 240km!

I completed a local run today and decided to wear my Xmas hat again. There were a lot of people on the roads, rushing about getting their final bits of shopping but what really surprised me was that I didn't get any beeps or waves from anyone :( This, I was disappointed about because my legs were feeling very heavy (no PB's today!) and I could have done with a little boost but no nothing from anyone! We do have a miserable nation sometimes!! If you ever see a person as crazy as me, running with a xmas hat or any other costume( or running gear) then give them a little beep because you just don't know how hard it might have been for that person to get out and run and it's the best feeling when someone gives you an acknowledgement boost!!

Tomorrow, should be different because I am sure if there is anyone out on the streets at midnight, they will cheer me along(I hope). For those of you that don't live in Birstall, raise a glass to me around midnight as I finish my final run with Chris who has been a massive support to me throughout this challenge and I couldn't have done it without his support and ears!!! I just hope this isn't how I look at midnight tomorrow!!xx

Day 22-With help from my amazing Grace!!

Day 22 started very early again but this time when my alarm beeped, I had no arguments with myself about getting out of bed. I got up straight away because I knew my friend Grace was going to support me on my run. She was originally going to ride on her bike but the ground was still far too slippy to be cycling.   When she came to my door, she said" it is a little warmer today". At first I thought, this cannot be true because I could still see the thick crusty snow/ice but as I got outside it was noticably warmer, yeah the weather was going to be kinder to my face!! We both put our Santa hats on to get into the Xmas spirit!! This is me and Grace just before I set off.

I started with a lovely cuddle and boost of motivation from Grace. I headed off and at about 1km she was there at the side of her car shouting and clapping for me.

Grace stopped at a number of points along the route and each time she was cheering and clapping for me. When I ran past the Leeds United ground, I thought to myself I know she is a really good friend of mine but I don't think she could bring herself to be stood outside Elland Road cheering!!! I don't blame her though because I don't think I would have done it for her if it had been Bradford City !!

I have found a number of these early morning runs to be freezing, dark and very lonely, therefore,  to see a friendly face cheering me on at so many points was an amazing boost for me and made the run so much more enjoyable! This is a pic Grace took of me on route!

I knew I was running at a good pace when my iphone lady told me I had been running for 30 mins and I had completed 6km. I saw Grace again just less than a 1km to go, I told her I was on route for a fast pace and again she jumped and cheered for me. I can't imagine what people thought if they saw us but I don't care, we are doing it for a fantastic cause and it felt great when I had finished the run in 49 mins and 10 seconds and saw Grace waiting for me at Leeds train station!! She was the best personal trainer anyone could have on a dark and cold morning, thank you Grace, x

Day 21-The shortest day+my quickest 10k+lunar eclipse!!

Day 21 started early in freezing temperatures. As you can see from my windscreen below it was extremely cold and very icy when I left the house, it definitely felt the coldest day so far, can it get any colder??? I hope not!!

I ran to work with my iphone lady talking to me on route and my tunes blasting into my ears to keep me feeling upbeat!!  I got half way down Geldard Road(nearly half way into work) and my iphone told me that it was pausing my work out. I knew it was someone ringing me and when I saw it was Chris(my husband), I was sure he was going to ask me where I had left something but no, I was wrong, he had called me to tell me there was a lunar eclipse and to look out for the moon and watch it while I was running. I could hardly talk back as my mouth and chin had just about frozen together but I found the moon straight away and it looked amazing.  I tried to take a picture of it but it's a bit disappointing as you can see below, I don't think I am going to win photographer of the year for that one. The moon is the top one, the circle below it was a light on a building. It was amazing to see it and made me glad I was out running to see it!!

I carried on running and was thinking of how Chris, my dad and brother would be as excited as me to see it!! I even shouted a man on a bike to tell him to look at it but he didn't seem interested, he was probably just thinking what is that crazy tango woman shouting at me?!!

Towards the end of my run to work, I always go through a tunnel on the A58, I have taken a picture of it below. It is the strangest feeling going through this tunnel, no matter how much or how little wind there is, it always feels like it is blowing a strong gale in the tunnel. As the cars fly past the other way, it is difficult to run and very noisy, when I reach the end of the tunnel, I feel half a stone lighter and the run a seems so much easier on my legs! You may think I am mad writing this bit and yes I am starting to think I am but you would understand what I meant if you were running through it!

I pushed on out of the tunnel and started running down whitehall road. When my iphone lady spoke to me and said I had run for 45 mins, I knew I was approaching my last 1km. I thought to myself I could  beat my fastest 10k?! So I dug deep and pressed the go faster button, I couldn't believe I still had that extra kick in me but I did! Must have been the glass of red wine I had last night!!    It was an amazing feeling at the end of my run when Paula Radcliffe's recorded voice talked to me through my iphone to say "Congratulations, you have just beaten your personal best and completed 10k in 50 minutes and 35 seconds!!". The competitive streak in me was mad for stopping to take pictures because I could have done it in 49 minutes something but I really was chuffed I had beaten my fastest run yet!  Here I am in Leeds City Square having completed my PB and feeling very pleased with myself because I have also hit £1800 in sponsors, this has to be my proudest achievement!!!

Bring on day 22 with a special friend following me on route to cheer me on, x

Day 20 complete with a recorded temperature of -11!!

Yes -11 c !! When I set this challenge for December I expected bad and cold weather but I didn't expect it to be quite as cold as it has been!!even though I had a hat covering my ears this morning,it still felt like my ears had frozen!!still I think it was that nip in the air that kept my legs motoring on!!on my run, I was also thinking about the lovely lady I had met yesterday and how her words really helped me yesterday and then again this morning!!I know I have mentioned this before but it's all the generous people that have donated to martin house that has kept me going through this challenge,my friends and family have been so generous thankuuuu! What has also touched me is all the people that have donated through friends and family that don't even know me,they are really generous people!thank you to my mum,Candice,Katie,Jill,Grace,Linda,Chris,Leanne ,Mark and Rob for talking about my challenge to others and getting extra sponsors,it really does mean alot. Apologies for any mistakes on this blog and the lack of pictures but Im writing it from my phone because I run out of time because I was out having some drinks (soft ones mum before you start to worry!)with some lovely friends from work,I was just a bit gutted that i had to leave so early when I could easily have stayed for some secret Santa shots but my body was telling me I needed to get home and my head was telling me I only had 9 hours before I was running again so I had to depart early!!there will be another time for more socialising when my challenge is over ,tonight I had to be sensible for a change and now I have to prepare for tomorrow!!night!x

Day 19-Two great friends, two mad runners, two chocolate lovers run across the Pennines!!

Two great friends, two mad runners, two chocolate lovers run across the Pennines!! Think that about sums me and Maggie up!!  Today, despite the weather I ran 10km with my friend Maggie. Unfortunately, the weather cancelled our original plans of running on the road, side by side but I was so pleased when Maggie suggested we run in sync with each other!!

I am starting to find each day tougher. Today, I ran later in the day and I know this is my downfall, the longer I have to think about getting out and running, my body has longer to tell me to rest at home with the central heating on and not to be crazy and go out in the freezing temperatures!! It got to lunchtime and the demons in my head started to tell me that I couldn't do it any longer and that I just wanted a rest day, especially because I had spent about two hours wrapping xmas presents!!!I checked in with Maggie and agreed a start time of 1.30pm. I was a little late starting the race because I got a little bit emotional and wobbled slightly getting out of the door, I think this was a combination of tired legs and body, the demons in my head telling me I couldn't do it but the positive voices saying you can do it and you can't let all the generous people and the children at Martin House down( sorry Maggie, I told you a little white lie when I spoke to you about loosing my gloves!). I then set off and called Maggie and knowing she was running with me helped me so much and I soon turned my tired legs into running legs!!  My blog doesn't contain as many pics as maggie's, I think I am running out of photographic opportunities that aren't duplicates. I did however, run past a bunch of Santa's. They weren't however being as crazy as me running, they had just left the pub at the top of the hill all very jolly, here they are!! I think the one nearest to the left of the pic was definitely the real santa!!

The long road home, this is a pic of the last hill, thankfully downhill at the end of the run.

Then, as I was approaching the last 200m, I couldn't resist taking this pic because the old legs had definitely slowed down but was impressed I still completed it in 54 mins, not sure how I am managing these times!!

The most moving moment today was meeting a lady that lived on my street, that I had never met before. She shouted over to me as she was walking her dog back into the street, asking if I was Diane ( she obviously didn't notice my bright orange t-shirt that Mik has kindly printed Diane's festive claus all over it!!). The first thing she said to me was, I think you are absolutely amazing. I won't tell you all that she said otherwise this blog will turn into a novel and it is already long enough!! But she had heard me on Radio Leeds and couldn't believe the challenge I had set myself and then continued to say how amazing I was. She told me that she works at St Gemma's Hospice and asked if I had known Jane Tomlinson. I told her that I never met her but had read a lot about her and she inspired me a lot knowing that she could run/cycle all those miles and raise all that money for people when she was so ill. We then talked about my dad and her mum who had suffered from cancer and she then asked where I lived so that she could come and give me some sponsor money. She was such a lovely lady.  I have found out that she only lives about 8 doors away from me but she found out about my run from Radio Leeds, how crazy is that!!! She said she would give me a wave on Xmas Eve/Xmas Day and again said how amazing I was for doing this for such a good cause!  I then walked the last few metres back to my own door in tears again but for very different reasons.  When Chris saw me, I think he thought I had been crying for the whole run!! The lady has made me think more about what I am doing and the reasons why I am doing it and if Jane Tomlinson can have the stamina and determination she had to keep running through her illness, then I can keep running with tired legs!!!

My moto of "things happen for a reason" came through again today because I did find the last few days tough and to see that lady at the time I did,  has really made me think and put another perspective into running my last 5 runs!!! xx

Day 18-The snow was the uninvited visitor today!!!

Day 18 started with disappointment. When I woke up to a blanket of snow and skidded all the way to the hairdressers in my car at 8am, I knew Jill and Leanne would not be able to come over from Bradford to join me on day 18. We have been looking forward to it all week, Jill and Leanne had the deely boppers and two pair of fresh legs ready!! And I had the Christmas tunes and some relatively flat routes planned but the snow, spoiled the fun!! I know they both feel bad but unfortunately, we can't control the weather  and I had them on my shoulder the whole way round helping me along. Thank you for saying you would come and support me, it did mean a lot to me!!

Chris therefore stepped into help. After standing in the freezing cold for over an hour putting xmas lights on the house, I talked myself out of going running until I could feel my fingers again!! Even though I could tell Chris didn't really want to fight the freeze, he said he would come and join me to help me along. And oh it was cold but you can see that he is smiling in the pic,  I think as soon as he made that smile, he was stuck with it for the whole run because his face had frozen in that position!!

As you can see, as hard and cold as the run was, the scenery was actually quite pretty, that's the snowy hills not the tango girl!

I once again felt really good and pleased with myself that I had completed another run. It was so difficult to get out of the house but then when we got out (Chris might say different!!) we both enjoyed it!! Tomorrow, I need to tell myself not to have the same argument and just get myself out there and do it!!!

Here is confirmation that we did complete the run in the very cold and tough conditions and that I have now clocked up 180km , only 6 more to , that's less than a week, yipeeeee!!!!

Check the pic below, I think I need to go buy some Daz , my trainers are looking a bit poorly next to the nice clean snow, they were white once!!! They have certainly taken a battering with the distance the weather conditions!!

Due to the weather conditions, we also missed out on sampling a few mulled wines and roast pork and apple sandwich at the manchester xmas market with some good friends :( !!! This also means my running partner for tomorrow has been cancelled. Maggiee (blog- magathon) who lives in Manchester has still suggested we run together across the pennines and take pictures for each others blog, so watch out for the story tomorrow!!

Day 17- Only a week to go!!!

Today was a great run because I ran with my brother in law Rob. It was a very cold run and slippery in places but it felt much easier for me and was much more enjoyable when you have someone to run with. Rob hasn't run for a while and considering he got a stitch half way through, he did great!! Thank you Rob. Here is a pic of us at the highest point of our run, it was definitely the toughest hill we climbed(well 2nd one!!). I am not sure he believed me when I kept saying these are the last steps we will climb!

17 runs now complete and it feels really good to know I have only 7 more to go & it's only 7 days to Xmas too, what can be more exciting than that!!! I am really looking forward to running along side Leanne & Jill in their deely boppers on the bikes tomorrow, I must try and avoid the hills we climbed today, otherwise they may not stay friends with me!! I've got all the top xmas tunes ready to help us through!! Please snow stay away so they can make it over!!!  Off now on my second xmas party looking forward to a few fizzy pops and nice food with good company!!

Current running total £1709.00 for Martin House, many thanks everyone for keeping me going!!x

Day 16- Uninvited running visitors & a whole lot more!!

Day 16 was met by some unwanted visitors, wind, rain, tired old legs and a duff iphone!! I did my local route this morning and as I passed what should have been 2km, I looked at my phone and it said I had only completed 0.87km but it took me 13 mins, I knew my legs were tiring but surely I wasn't that slow, I battled on and finished my run on the hour which at first I was a little disheartened but when I reviewed the map later, I knew I had at run at least another 3/4 km. Not what I needed on day 16, when the legs are getting heavy!!Damn technology!!

Even though it let me down with the tracking, I do love it when I am sent cheers messages from friends who have put encouraging notes or xmas tunes on facebook.  A friend also saw me whilst driving to work this morning and gave me a number of toots on his horn, it is amazing feeling when someone is showing appreciation and "egging you on"". Thank you to everyone who has added a message or tooted, you don't know how great it feels to know someone is there supporting you!!

I have also received fantastic support with my sponsors, my current total is £1703 which is an unbelievable amount. It has been topped up by the generous people at Aviva. One of my close friends John, suggested creating a xmas display highlighting Xmas messages from the teams within Aviva and then donating the money normally spent on Xmas cards to my "claus"!  This has generated another £102!!  Here is John together with Kate and Suzanne who created a beautiful Xmas display!! Thank you guys,xx

If you look carefully on the pic, you can see my first photograph in the Batley news, well I am in the paper again today and have taken a photograph below!! I am just grateful the photographer used this picture and not the one where he had me laid in a lump of snow that was two weeks old and full of dirt!!

 I also want to say a massive thanks to my friends and family who have volunteered(can I call it volunteer when they were drunk when they agreed to do it???) to come and run/cycle with me.   I am so looking forward to running with the bro in law tomorrow and  (if the snow stays away!!)Jill, Leanne on Saturday and Maggie on Sunday. I have the festive tunes ready and I am sure I will forget about my tired legs with their support!!!

Finally, my mum is always telling me how proud she is off me(and I know Dad is too) but she is forever telling me to take it easy and get my feet up and rest, well mum, today I did, at 5.30pm, I decided to have a cheeky nap and slept for 1.5hours to recharge my batteries!! Bring on day 17!! xx

Day 15-Single numbers all the way to Xmas, ho ho ho!

Not much to report from my run today, the highlight was completing a fantastic 150km in 15 days and knowing I only have 9 more until I have completed my challenge. I can then tuck into my Christmas dinner knowing my friends and family have raised a fantastic amount of money for Martin House.   My total amount of sponsors is still increasing which is fantastic and this is helping me get out and run the 10k each day.

One great thing about running is the more you run the more you can eat!! It's great, if you love your food(particularly naughty treats like me) then I recommend running. Everyone keeps asking if I am loosing weight, which I am not but I am not gaining any weight either on the run up to Xmas and I am letting myself eat lots of treats knowing that I will burn the calories the following day!!  For those of you who like facts, I have burnt 9717 calories in 15 days just by running!!! How many pieces of cheesecake is that???

Also, for anyone who entered the competition to guess my overall finishing time, to give you an idea of my progress, my current recording is 13hours and 46 mins in 15 days. Sorry Maggie, Lisa and Linda who had very high expectations of me, I don't think you will be winning any prizes!!   I will post my overall time in the last few days so that you can keep a check to find out if you are going to be a winner!!

Day 13 & Day 14- Two completely different runs!

If you are following my blog closely, you will have noticed I didn't complete my blog for day 13. Do not worry, I did complete day 13 run but it was definitely an unlucky day for me. I ran to work early and felt reasonably well considering my legs had already carried me 120km so far and I actually enjoyed running on the paths to work. This was the first run to work where the paths had been free of ice or snow, it was actually a bit weird!! Anyway, I got to work and it started to go down hill, I had a shower and the water was cold and I just couldn't warm up no matter how many tea's I had with friendly colleagues! I started to get really tired as the day went on. I tried everything to try and boost my energy, eating nuts, chocolate, crisps, biscuits you name it, I had it, I even bought a can of coke and I rarely drink pop!! Nothing really made a difference until my bed at 9pm!!

Today, day 14,  I woke up before my alarm and was having a little argument with myself about getting out of bed. I read my friends blog (The magathon) and I was inspired by her and her friends efforts and knew I had to get out there and get running and I would feel better. As I was getting ready, I decided to get over my "off" day yesterday, I needed to set myself a challenge. So I set my GPS to challenge me to beat my fastest 10k festive challenge and oh did it work!! I was too busy trying to keep my pace at each kilometre to even think about completing 10!! When I arrived at 10k and Lance Armstrong spoke to me(through my nikeplus app, unfortunately not in person) and told me I had beaten my pb for 10k and I had been sent a gold medal on my iphone, it was the best feeling in the world and I wanted to turn round and do it again!!

So if you ever need a little motivation on a difficult day, challenge yourself to a realistic target and I guarantee it will push you and make you feel on top of the world!! Sorry I couldn't find any pictures of Lance with clothes on!x

I am so looking forward to the weekend, I only have a couple more days to get through on my own then  I have some friends joining me to help support me on the way, watch out for the pics! They are worried how tough it is going to be for them but they will be fine and they don't realise how much they are going to lift me, thank you girls :)

Day 12-Half way home!

There were two reasons today why I really enjoyed my run, one because I had a running partner( my husband Chris) by my side and the other because I have hit the half way point for my challenge.

 It was a tough run for both of us, as you can see from Chris's finishing pic, he he!!Not sure it helped his dodgy back but he definitely helped me along, x

The pic below was an hour after he had recovered!!!

 It was a tough run for us both because we had a difficult time last night with our son, Noah. He had a disturbing night due to a very high temperature so we were both a little tired this morning!!  In part of the night, we were both seriously worried about Noah but thankfully, when he woke this morning he was 100% better. It did however, make me think about all the children and their families in Martin House that probably have the same kind of night every night. It made me realise how lucky we are to have a healthy son and family and how important it is to raise as much money as I can to make the lives of those poorly children more comfortable.  If you haven't sponsored me, please log into www.virginmoneygiving.com/dianechapman or catch my running bug and get out there helping all the great charities that need our help!!  

I finished the run today and my day, feeling really pleased that I had reached the half way point of my challenge. Can I do it all again??? Yes of course I can, with the fantastic support I have got from my family and friends and knowing that I am raising so much money, I am ready for it, bring it on with any willing running/cycling partners!!! Let's just hope the weather is kinder to me in the other half of my challenge!!!

Day 11-Running on red bull!

Another different experience today!! The weather conditions were perfect for running, dry, no wind, and a much warmer 6C, it's just a shame my body wasn't in the same condition otherwise I am sure I would have got another festive challenge pb.

It was my first Xmas party last night and it started to go badly for my running when the pub we were in were selling double vodka's for £3.80 and a single for £5.20??? Then this morning when I woke up, running was the last thing I wanted to do. After an hour of trying to talk myself into it, I got myself out there, thinking about the children I was raising the money for. I set off and found it tough going for the first couple of kilometres then found my stride and actually started to feel so much better and was glad I made the effort to go early.  No soggy feet, no frozen cheeks, instead, nice blue sky, some warm sunshine and red bull wings to carry me round!!

I managed to complete the run in just over 53 minutes so I was proud of myself achieving the distance and the mileage when I had felt so bad when I first woke up!!

What has also made day 11 different is that I had a running partner with me. The only problem was he was on the other side of the world. My brother ran 10k to support my cause in the southerly most city in the WORLD!!!It beats running in Batley!!

Even though he wasn't running by my side, I was thinking about him when I was out this morning, hoping that he was running in sync with me!! Here is a picture of him tackling one of the many hills in Argentina!

Well done and thank you David, you did great considering you were on holiday and had also consumed an awful lot of red wine and steak!! Looking forward to hearing about your running experience only 700 miles from the Antartic when you return!Enjoy the rest of your holiday and bring a penguin home for us, xx

Day 10-Heat wave and soggy feet

Friday's are my day off work, therefore, I had the luxury of staying in bed until 6.45am when my son, Noah came into my room saying is it morning yet mummy??  Even though it was still early, it was still nice to lay in bed for a while and not have to rush getting ready at ridiculous o'clock to get out running before work!!! I took him to school and stayed at school for a couple of hours to help out in the library. The teachers are lovely at Noah's school and both them and parents of Noah's friends have been very supportive to my challenge. My sponsor form now has a place in the teachers staff room, fingers crossed for more sponsors!!
I left school and started my run from the school gates full of motivation following the generous donations. I headed towards Batley park and even though the temp was 6C and felt like a heat wave compared to the temperatures of all my other runs, Batley Park lake was still frozen over and the poor ducks looked like they were fed up of the crazy weather we have been having. Chris says I might have cheered them up seeing a crazy orange woman running through the slush!

I followed the road uphill to Oakwell Hall. As I was running, I could feel my feet getting wetter each step I took. It was like I was running in a constant stream of water from all the snow that had melted. I then hit a problem!!! I arrived in Oakwell Hall after clocking up 6km, I ran a tough route around Oakwell Hall through soggy paths and then ran back down Bradford Road. I kept thinking I must have hit 7km by now, it just didn't seem right, I ran a little further and decided to check my iphone. I then realised my sensor had stopped working on 6.22km, damn it, the last km had just been for fun and hadn't recorded any distance, I presume it was due to my very soggy feet!!!  I carried on running and by the time I did reach my 10km my feet must have soaked up a pint of water in each trainer!! urkkk , I felt like a kid again with my soggy trainers and muck up my legs!!The positive out of today's run is that I ran further than I should have so tomorrow's run should be a doddle!!

All cleaned up and had my third photo shoot with the newspaper. This time the Birstall and Batley news wanted me to lay in the bit of mucky snow that is left on our street in my Santa's suit, can't wait to see how great I look in those!!  Exciting day tomorrow because my brother will be running 10k in the southern most city in the world in sync with me in Batley!! Haha Look out for the photo's, I will also be finding out if alcohol works with running because it's my first Xmas drinking session tonight :) ??

Day 9-Got my mojo back!!!

At the end of day 8, my body was starting to feel it! My husband cooked me a lovely plate of pasta so I overloaded on carbs then had an early appointment with my bed at 9:30pm.   Day 9 therefore started much easier and I cheated slightly!  Each time I run into work, my first mile and half is up a steep incline and due to the tough day I had yesterday, I decided to drive to the top of the hill and start my run from the highest point of my route, I obviously still completed 10k but had one less hill and I also got chance to run around one of my favourite sporting grounds!!! Can anyone see where I was? Very dark but you can just see the sign in the background!

I blew a kiss to Billy Bremner and from here, I only had 3km to go.  When I reached work in 51 mins 26 seconds, I was on a high and felt like I could do it again but no, needed to save my energy for tomorrow!! The extra sleep and pasta definitely paid off!!

Looking forward to running the next few days at a more reasonable time of day and in the daylight, night!x

Day 8- A tough tiring day!

I set off to complete day 8 at approx 6:20am, just me and my iphone on the road! Today was a particularly tough run.  It's strange because there was nothing different about my run that could have made it any harder, same route to work, weather cold but still dry and less snow on the ground, so if anything it should have been easier but it felt tough!!!

A few cars and lorries passed me on route but no human voice heard until I got into work 54 minutes later, I think until that point I felt I had been in a lonely running world of my own!  But the words I heard, from a generous work colleague made something click back into place in my head and heart- Well done Diane, I can't believe you have run into work again, here let me give you your sponsor money.   Here is a picture of me and Sue in reception just as I had finished day 8!!!  The moment of realisation hit me again and I thought no matter how hard this challenge gets, every ache, pain, drop of sweat is worth it, for the fantastic support and money I am raising for the children at Martin House Children's Hospice.

Thank you to everyone to my generous friends, family and work colleagues at Aviva, you are helping such a fantastic "claus"!!

If you anyone wants to sponsor me because I still have a long way to go, please sponsor me at http://www.virginmoneygiving.com/dianechapman

Day 7- The longest amount of running I have ever done in a week!

I set off on my 7th day leaving my husband, mum and noah all still asleep. There was still a lot of snow/ice on the paths, I therefore decided to do most of the running on the roads and stayed off the slippery paths! I took my husbands advice of completing a local run around the block but had to run a couple of laps to ensure that I clocked 10k!! This I did not enjoy, I think it works for some people but not me. When I had passed one point at 2k, I knew I still had to run past this point again to be anywhere near my 10k!! I think this played on my mind from the start of the run and it seemed to take a long time before I got to 5k and I have not felt like this on one of my runs before. It was such a relief when I got to 9k and I knew I was nearly home with no more laps!! Tomorrow, I am running in one direction to work and I am looking forward to leaving the laps behind!! How can two runs measuring the same distance seem so different  in length???  

Radio Leeds interview -Listen out for me at 1:13:20

http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/p00cfl8h/
My first experience of being live on the Radio, hope it helps the "claus" and more people support me :-)

One 1/4 of the way there and a visit to the BBC!!!

Another early start this morning! I was ready and out of the house by 6.30am. As I approached my first kilometre I couldn't believe how cold it was, my thermal layers were working their magic but I'm sure my face had started to turn blue by the time I reached Leeds.  My legs were starting to feel heavy and as I approached 8 km, I was sure that I was going much slower than my previous runs but surprised to hear from my friendly voice over that I had completed it in 45 mins. I was pleased with my time, so I pushed myself a little bit more and managed to complete the run in just over 52 minutes and even though I struggled to get out of bed, I felt great for completing day 6 and realising I was a 1/4 of the way there! Wahoo!!

Later in the morning I had a appointment at BBC Yorkshire!!! My stomach was churning all the way there and waiting in reception with Harry & Christa's faces posted everywhere made me feel even more nervous. Katie at BBC Leeds was really nice and made me feel welcome and was so impressed with the challenge I set myself!  Soon after I met Dom the presenter and with only a 30 seconds introduction and no warning of what he was going to ask me I was live on air on Radio Leeds!!I should have the recording to add to my blog tomorrow.  I managed to say most of the things I wanted to say apart from telling him the person behind all the running helping me along my way was my dad but me and the people that are close to me know this. x
The important thing for the charity is that I made sure my charity sponsor site (www.virginmoneygiving.com/dianechapman) was given out on air. Since the broadcast I have an anonymous donation and also a very generous donation of £50 from someone called Tom, so whoever Tom is a massive thank you and I will be thinking of this and also an emotional call I have just taken from my Aunty Annette when I am back out on the road at 6.30 in the morning!!

Day 5- Santa's on the run & and a cheetah dressed as a reindeer!

Started the day with an early 2.2km warm up run around the white rose centre with Noah the reindeer, Chris as Mr Claus, me as Mrs Claus and lots of other Santa's!! We met the lovely people at Martin House Children's Hospice that do such fantastic work raising money for the charity and their Mascot, Marty. There were also a number of people with pictures of children they were running for on their backs which made it a very emotional experience and makes every centimetre of my 240kilometres worthwhile!!!   Here is a picture of Noah the reindeer and me and Marty!

Here are all the santa's ready to start after the warm up session!! The REAL santa claus started the race so Noah was very excited!!

Reindeer on the run!

Think it got a bit too much at one point!! 

Mr and Mrs Claus were very proud of our little reindeer, he was sprinting around at such a pace, we couldn't keep up with him. I think he enjoyed his first race experience, let's hope he catches the bug in a few years!!

The three festive finishers!!

But that wasn't the end of my running . After visiting my mum's and finding out that I had got more generous sponsors from my family (and a welcomed homemade lasagne & stew to take home) I left Chris and Noah to drive back and I ran the 10km home. It took me an hour to motivate myself to leave the warm house but as soon as I was out on the road it felt good. I decided to give myself a bit of an easier time because my legs were feeling a tad heavy and stuck to the main road instead of the snowy paths and finished the run in 56mins and 52 seconds. 5 down, 19 more to go, it feels good knowing I have left the twenty numbers behind!!! 

I have managed to supplement my sponsor money from proceeds of a xmas stall me and my friend, Candice had last Saturday. A massive thank you has to go to her for being so generous and topping up the charity money and a big well done and thank you to Noah and Chris for completing the Santa Run with me. 

Listen out on Radio Leeds tomorrow for my live broadcast, fingers crossed it will attract more support for the cause!x

Day 4-Saturday thaw

Had a fantastic local run this morning. My legs felt heavy so I decided to run on the road to miss out the snow and there was hardly any traffic on the road at 8am. Was really pleased because I ran my fastest 10k in 4 days! Not sure how I managed that!!!  Had a busy afternoon supporting Stylery Photography studio's at the Dickensian market in Clayton Bradford. Now nearly 11pm and my thoughts are turning to my early morning charity Santa's run with Chris (as daddy claus) and Noah as rudolf, watch out for the story and pics on my blog tomorrow!! Looking forward to running along with hundreds of other Santa's, should be good fun !! x

Day 3- In daylight!!

Day 3 complete and 30km recorded!! It was very cold this morning. My phone was telling me it was -16 at 7am but I'm not sure if this was a malfunction or whether it really was! First I walked my son Noah to school who had a late starting time due to the bad conditions.  One of Noah's lovely teachers showed me a board where they had stuck a clipping of me from the Birstall newspaper and Noah had written a sticky note saying "I am proud of my mum because she is very kind". The teacher also said she had put some money aside for my sponsor. I was very touched by this and gave Noah a big kiss and cuddle and off I went on my journey for day 3, full of motivation!

I started off with the same big hill I reach when I leave my house and headed for a local park Oakwell Hall. Even though it was tough going on my feet ankles and cheeks!! It was a much more enjoyable run because it was daylight and the views were amazing.  Some of the ground was fairly uneven and steep but it was very rewarding, here is a picture of me at the highest point of my run!!

I was really pleased with my overall time considering I stopped for photo's and bad conditions underfoot-59mins 5 seconds, total duration is 2hours 53 minutes and 38 seconds.

When I returned home, Chris (my husband), told me that Radio Leeds had called and wanted to do an interview with me.  I have since arranged to go to BBC Yorkshire on Monday morning at 10am to do a live broadcast at around 10.10 s listen out for a yorkshire lass who talks too quick!!! All great for promoting my run and hopefully getting more sponsors!!!

Day 2-Blizzard conditions but £1000 raised!!

Day 2 complete only 22 more to go!!! The best news of today is that I have managed to raise £1000 for Martin's House Children's Hospice from all my generous friends and family, wahooo.

I started the day reading a lovely message from my friend Maggie, who motivated me to get out of bed to run to work. Today was much harder than yesterday, much colder and blizzard conditions for 20 minutes of my run! I would have taken a picture but it was far too cold to get my phone out!! I also had my bag packed with my walking boots, in case I got stranded on the way home so I felt like a true army cadet!! Thankfully, the buses were working so I got a lift by public transport. This in itself is funny because it took me an hour to get home but I ran to work this morning in 59mins!! Maybe I could set a trend with a new form of transport getting to work, your running shoes!! It's cheaper, better on the enviroment and better for your health(but that's debatable in my case!!).

I also had my story published in the Yorkshire Evening Post today,  I never thought I would make it as a page 3 girl but my picture was there today!! I have also attached a link to the website where they added my picture.

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/Mum39s-10k-Santa-challenge.6647279.jp

Bring on day 3!!

1st day of advent which was full of excitement and challenges for everyone!

What a day!!! I was laid awake at 4.30am worrying what the weather was going to be like but at the same time eager to get out running and complete my first 10k. I got up at 6.15 and was out of the door with a number of thermal layers on at 6.30am on my way to work in Leeds. The first mile was tough going, lots of snow and a big hill to tackle. Soon as I got to the top it seemed a little easier and managed to complete 10k in 55mins and although alot of the run was down hill, I was really pleased with the time considering the weather.  I now feel I am ready for any weather that is thrown at me!!

At 9.30, I got a call from the Yorkshire Evening Post and they arranged to come to work to take pics of me at work. They then asked me to go to a park nearby in the snow in my Santa suit that has been customised by a close friend who I am very greatful, thank you Mik. The YEP photographer was accompanied with a photographer from the national press so maybe I will be in the daily express later in the week!! The downside of being photographed in the park was that they had be running in the park and kicking the snow which meant I must have run an extra couple of kilometres and with the walk home from work today ,means it's been a tough first day for me!

At 11am today, I was on the Pulse radio and have been on every hour since!!!   Even though the snow looked very pretty, the downside is it has caused lots of problems for people travelling too and from work and I just hope my work colleagues and friends have got home safe and are now safe with their families,xx   Resting my legs now while my supportive husband is making my tea before my next arctic run tomorrow, I wonder if tomorrow will be as exciting?? Bring it on!!

What out in the Yorkshire Evening Post tomorrow night!!