{"id":2311,"date":"2011-02-04T16:02:41","date_gmt":"2011-02-04T16:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/?p=2311"},"modified":"2012-03-23T10:33:00","modified_gmt":"2012-03-23T10:33:00","slug":"my-fit-at-40-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markwilson.co.uk\/blog\/2011\/02\/my-fit-at-40-challenge.htm","title":{"rendered":"My Fit at 40 Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"JustGiving<\/a>I’ve just launched the JustGiving page for my “Fit at 40” challenge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Fit at 40” is my challenge to lose weight, get fit, and raise money to fight Prostate Cancer, the most common cancer in men.<\/p>\n

I’m asking my friends, family, colleagues, and everyone else to sponsor me, but it’s not for a single event.<\/p>\n

This is what I’m doing, and why…<\/p>\n

It’s about me<\/h3>\n

At the time of writing, I’m 38 years old, about 5 stone heavier than I’d like to be (I’m about 17st 10lbs – or 113kg), and I’ve been this way for a few years now.<\/p>\n

I know the problem: I like food; I don’t do enough exercise; and I’m greedy. But I really want this to change – with your help…<\/p>\n

Last year (2010), I ran the Harrold Pit Run<\/a>, a 4.8Km race in a village a few miles away from where I live. In a few short weeks I worked hard to get from being unable to run to the end of the street, to running my first race, and I loved the experience.<\/p>\n

I tried to keep up the running but I’ve struggled to keep going by pounding the pavements alone.\u00a0 Like cutting out the poor diet, I need something to motivate me and, after I ran another 5Km race in Studland<\/a> last summer, my wife came up with the idea of combining running, dieting, and fund-raising.<\/p>\n

It’s for my Dad<\/h3>\n

On 6 May 2009, I received a phone call to tell me my Father was in hospital.\u00a0 I knew he was receiving treatment for Prostate Cancer, but the doctors had thought everything was under control, telling him that he was more likely to die of something else before the cancer got him…<\/p>\n

But the doctors were wrong – the cancer had spread, Dad was undergoing chemotherapy, and things were not looking good.<\/p>\n

Dad died in the early hours of 9 May 2009. He was only 63.<\/p>\n

It’s for every man<\/h3>\n