Carol Sherriff
My Story
Well I did it! 2022 London Marathon for Versus Arthritis completed. I set myself three goals:
- finish
- enjoy
- cross the finish line in under 6 hours
and I achieved all three thanks to the amazing support from my family, friends, donors. the Versus Arthritis team and the 6:00:00 pacers. It was so amazing. I will be sharing photos over the next few days but if you have time read a little more about my journey to finish line below.
In 2019, Versus Arthritis offered me a place in the London Marathon because another runner was unable to compete. My mother, Grace Sherriff, who was a born organiser took up the challenge and was about to go into serious fundraising for the event, Sadly, she died unexpectedly on 21 March 2019. Arthritis was not mentioned on the death certificate but it played a huge role in the deterioration in her quality of life and overall mental and physical health.
She never saw me run but the 2019 marathon became a wonderful opportunity for my family to gather together in Grace's name, celebrate, mourn and support each other. You can see the purple teashirts we wore in her honour in the photo above.
Spurred on by runner's high and the encouragement of my family, I began a year of running for Grace. That year was due to end in April 2020 with me running the London Marathon, fully prepared this time, for Versus Arthritis, a charity both she and I supported.
But in a fitting tribute to my mother, nothing went according to plan.
The pandemic struck and the 2020 face to face marathon was an elite only affair and I am definitely not an elite runner! So I ran the virtual London Marathon on October 4, 2020 in Derbyshire, with the intention of running in London in 2021.
However, as October 2021 got closer and the pandemic continued, it didn't seem wise for me to run in London with infection rates still high. My family seems to have a genetic tendency to develop arthritic conditions and I have had rheumatoid arthritis for more than 20 years and take medication that suppresses my immune system. Again, I ran the virtual London Marathon in Derbyshire.
Now here we are in 2022. Versus Arthritis have been so kind and honoured their commitment that I should get a chance to experience the whole marathon experience. Fingers crossed, I will run in London in October 2022.
But really who knows?
What I do know is my magnificent supporters will continue to support me, my mother and Versus Arthritis. Together we have already raised nearly £9000. It would be great to go into five figures but just like me and my training, one step at a time :-)
Thank you to everyone - family, friends, the events team at Versus Arthritis and other runners - who has encouraged me, spent their money sponsoring me and read my posts. You are incredible.
Let's see what happens next. I will keep you posted.
Carol Sherriff