On Sunday 3rd October 2021, one of our solicitors, Louise Astill, will be taking on the biggest challenge of her life to date, running the London Marathon, a whopping 26.2 miles around the streets of London to raise money in support of our Charity Partner, Cerebra.
We caught up with Louise on the build up to the Marathon to see how she is getting on with this ultimate challenge…
Why have you chosen to run the London Marathon?
I am a keen albeit amateur runner, and I have been involved in a few races and having had a taste of the cherry, the London Marathon has been at the top of my list for a couple of years now. The allure of running a Marathon for me is being able to set myself a goal and pushing myself both physically and mentally in order to reach that goal, but running the London Marathon in particular has been a dream of mine. I cannot wait to soak in the buzzing atmosphere, see the sights of the London landmarks and the faces of my friends and family cheering me on in the crowd, all whilst raising money to help change the lives of children with brain conditions.
Why are you running in support of Cerebra?
Despite the London Marathon having been on my ‘to do list’ for a little while, I had been unsuccessful in the ballot a few times so I started to consider charity places. Although there are hundreds of charities to choose from I was hoping that I could get involved with a charity that I felt truly connected to and helping families who have experienced brain injuries and conditions is something that I am very passionate about. The best part of my job as a Clinical Negligence solicitor is knowing that we are making a real difference to the families we work with, something that I know Cerebra are equally passionate about and to my mind running for Cerebra was the perfect fit.
How is your training going?
My training got off to a rocky start, after getting myself up to running around 10 miles by the end of May, I picked up a knee injury that put me out of action for 4 weeks! It was really tough because I was worried that my Marathon dream had been crushed before it had really begun. However, I stayed positive and gave my body time to rest up, keeping my fitness up through bike rides and swimming.
Luckily, this worked and I am now back on track with my training plan, having completed a 14 mile run this weekend with plans to continue increasing my miles each week until I get to 20 miles, before tapering my runs during the final 3 weeks before the Marathon.
How is your fundraising going?
I have set myself the target of raising £2,000 for Cerebra and although I am a little way off this target at the moment, my fundraising campaign is going well so far. I held a Euros Sweepstake which raised £100 and I have a raffle planned along with a charity poker match in September. I am very hopeful that I will smash my target by the time I get to the starting line!
How are you feeling about running the Marathon?
I am both nervous and excited about running the Marathon. Now that my training is back on track I feel far more prepared for the race than I did back in June. I cannot wait to get to the finishing line and celebrate both the achievement of having made it and also having helped support Cerebra.
We cannot wait to see Louise in action at the London Marathon in October, you can help Louise hit her fundraising target and spur her on by visiting her fundraising page here https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/LouiseAstill
This year CL Medilaw are Corporate Legal Supporters of Cerebra. We take pride in supporting Cerebra, an incredible charity dedicated to helping children with brain conditions and their families discover a better life together. They work closely with families to provide the best research-driven, high-quality health, legal, financial and social care advice for children from aged 0 to 16 with brain conditions. https://cerebra.org.uk/
