They were non-judgmental and offered me encouragement without anyone directing me. It really gave me that sense of someone is always listening, which was such an important thing for me at that time.
This is one of the reasons that I decided to consider the London Marathon challenge. Samaritans was the only organisation I applied to, I wanted to give something back because they had been there for me.
Running the London Marathon
I completed the London Marathon in 2019 but can’t claim to be a runner. The last time, it didn’t go well. I felt unprepared and for many reasons I didn’t enjoy the day. It felt like I had unfinished business, and I knew it could be better than that.
The day itself had been set up really well by the team at Samaritans. I felt so supported, right up to the point where I received a phone call just checking in on the day I picked up my number. I arrived on the morning feeling like I was part of a team. The sunshine and the atmosphere were just so much more positive, I was also more relaxed than the first time. I saw my husband in the crowd around Woolwich, and I knew a friend would be at mile 10, so I was looking out for her – it was such a buzz when we found each other. Then London Bridge was an iconic moment and running through rainbow mile was also so much fun.
My previous time was 6 hours 35 minutes, and I thought I wasn’t going to beat that, though I really wanted to. I tried to keep up with a 6-hour 30-minute pacer – who was amazing. She power walked the whole thing, and coming up to Embankment I could still see her flag so I kept her in my sights. I caught her up just after Big Ben, around Birdcage Walk, which feels like the longest part of the marathon. So, I knew I would finish before 6.30.
Last time, I crossed the line five minutes after they turned off the TV monitors, so that spurred me on. I jogged down that last stretch, raised my arms and ran across the line, thinking ‘wow, I did it!’
There was a long walk after that to find my family, but I turned a corner, and all the Samaritans volunteers were there and they were just wonderful, cheering and clapping, and offered to walk me to the reception. It was such a lovely thing. To have the crowds there and feel part of the team was just amazing. I’m a 51-year-old non-athlete and they made me feel really special.
Branwen
Fundraising tips
I think the key is to get started as soon as you can, particularly early donations. You could put a donation from yourself or from friends and family – they don’t have to be big, just something that starts to show people are supporting.
The other thing I found with fundraising is you’ve got to be realistic about the amount of energy you can put into it. Generally, people donate much more if they feel connected to it or feel like they’re going to get something from the process. The number of people who just donate because they want to support the charity I think has shrunk over the years – you do have to be quite proactive in your fundraising.
It helped massively that people were willing to help organise things with me. It wasn’t just me putting all that effort in. I think the Halloween event raised over £200 pounds, and as everyone heard about it, they would approach me with other offers of help. One of my colleagues is an artist with an online gallery, she mentioned she was just about to do a big clearance of stock, so instead she donated a portion of all sales to my fundraising. She raised over £400.
Another colleague who does embroidery donated bespoke pieces. We did a 100-square where people paid £2 a square. There was a draw for the numbers and the people that got drawn out got to work with her on a bespoke piece of embroidery. One of the people who won asked her to do something on her guinea pigs. So, people were quite creative with how they supported me. I think it was the fact that people could see I was putting the effort in that made them want to contribute to that effort.
My final tip really would be you do have to share a little bit of yourself on the fundraising page. When days were hard, when training was tough and things weren’t going my way, I would update my page with, ‘things aren’t necessarily going my way’.
I tried to provide enough information so that those who don’t know me personally could still learn enough to feel a connection. So be prepared to share enough of yourself to create that connection. It was such an amazing experience.
