Zoe Corkhill » race for life

Race for Life – we did it!

Zoe — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 21:44:53 +0000

This time last week, James & I were frantically searching our rather chaotic house for a few key things; my race for life t-shirt (turns out I washed it and it was away in the drawer!), my joggers, and the race for life number & back sign… We are always very organised!

At 10pm, I realised that we only had 6 safety pins.. Oops! Although this could have worked if I used the two pin method for one of my signs, @hayles was also missing this vital ingredient. So, my ever put upon husband took me to spar to try to hunt some down.

Yep, very organised, James & I.

At an unmentionable time on Saturday morning, James forced me to get out of bed and bundled me & the dog into the car. It was at this point that I was cursing about deciding to do Race for Life in Bristol. I wasn’t complaining about my decision to take part, you understand, but rather the fact that I chose to do it on a Saturday morning in Bristol. Bristol, of all places! It’s not like I couldn’t have done it in Birmingham, there were several on. They wouldn’t have required quite such an early wake up time! I blame Hayley, personally.

Homily after the race – Photo by @nixgeek

We arrived at Hayley’s house at a slightly unsociable time, and proceeded to drink a well needed coffee and play with their dog, Fern. I think that she easily qualifies as the most hyperactive dog I’ve met, tied with my friends dog Joop, that is. Homily was completely confounded by this animal. That’s not entirely surprising though, as her idea of activity is getting up to have a drink! It was nice to play fetch with a dog who actually goes and gets the ball though, for a change. Hom just isn’t interested I’m anything that isn’t edible.

The four of us (and Hompom) headed up to the Clifton Downs to meet up with @unbrokenreality & @kateykatey. James and Alex were designated official dumping ground for belongings, and Alex designated himself official photographer. As I’m sure you can imagine, the prospect of having someone take photos of you when you’re planning to do any sort of physical activity on a warm day isn’t the nicest thing in the world.

We walked the 5km course in just over an hour¹, and it was really nice to chat to each other and laugh together on the way round. Even Homily made it all the way, with only a few two-minute breaks where I would carry her a little way, whenever it seemed like she was flagging a bit! We were greeted with goodie bags and our medals, including one for Homily!

One of my cousins sponsored me as we hit the 2km mark – it was very motivating to be pushed over the £300 mark as we walked round!

Just crossed the finish line! – Photo by @jamescorkhill

After a quick shower and change back at Hayley’s, we headed into the city centre for our reward – milkshakes at Rocotillos! I swear, if I could find somewhere in Birmingham that did proper milkshakes like these people, I would be making up excuses to go there all the time. “oh, its wednesday, let’s celebrate with shakes?” … “you’ve found a missing sock? Wooohooo, time for milkshakes” … And so on. Nom nom nom.

Hayley & Alex very kindly offered us a bed for the night, so we headed back to theirs for a quiet evening and some well deserved rest! We headed back to Birmingham in the morning, after watching far too much of the hollyoaks omnibus. I don’t like soaps as a general rule, but I found it oddly compelling!

With our medals – Photo by @nixgeek

I have managed to raise over £300 for Cancer Research UK, which I am absolutely delighted about! If you want to donate you still can though, so please please please head over to my sponsorship page and donate securely & quickly online.

This experience was really great – and it meant a lot to me, so I’m really pleased I took part. Thank you so much to everyone who has donated, I am so grateful for your support!

~1:02:30 hrs, to be more specific.

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Race for Life – Only 3 days to go!

Zoe — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 22:01:25 +0000

This Saturday (wow, that’s come around fast!) I will be heading down to Bristol to take part in Race for Life, to help raise money for Cancer Research UK.

Please help me raise as much money for this great cause as possible, by sponsoring me to take part! I explain why I’m taking part on my Race for Life page.

I think Homily is going to be confused by her very long walk! We will be getting up early, and driving from Birmingham to Bristol in order to get there in time for the start of the event – not my ideal Saturday morning. But it’s worth it, because I have already raised more than my target £250. Every penny helps though, so please ignore the fact I’ve hit my target and donate anything you can!

Please sponsor me

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Honk!

Zoe — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:40:14 +0000

I love this video, and the message it conveys is a very important one.

My mum’s life was probably saved by her mammogram. A few weeks before her 50th birthday in 2008, she booked herself in & got checked – ‘just in case’. There was nothing wrong, that you would notice, but it turned out she had a very agressive form of cancer. If it had been left undetected, it could have been too late by the time anything visible appeared. So please, if you’re nearing 50, don’t wait until you feel like there is something wrong – go and get a mammogram. I know they’re unpleasant, but they save lives – In the UK, the NHS screening program saves 1400 lives every year.

And don’t forget – I am taking part in Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life this year, in Bristol. Please sponsor me!

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Race for Life!

Zoe — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:58:08 +0000

This year, I am joining Hayley and taking part in the Race for Life in Bristol, on June the 12th. I will be blogging about my ‘training’ (I plan on taking the dog for lots of walks/jogs) as well as the race itself, and you can catch up on things here at my blog.

I am taking part in the race to celebrate my Mum being given the all clear… She was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2008, and underwent operations, chemotherapy & radiotherapy in her battle against it. She was given the day off from her treatment to take part in my wedding though, and thankfully has been ok since her treatment ended!

Cancer Research UK really is an amazing charity that does such great work; I’m really happy to be able to do something to help support them. If you would like to join in too, please get in touch – the more the merrier! Girls only though, I’m afraid.

Please sponsor me whatever you can afford (every pound makes a difference!) at my sponsorship page!

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