Cancer sufferer Fran Venter's road to London part 4

PDF | Print | E-mail

Saturday, 16 April 2011 12:38

User Rating: / 0
PoorBest 

Fran's Road to London

Virgin Active employee Fran Venter (product and training manager) will be running the London Marathon for Charity (Ma’Afika Tikkun) on 17 April. What makes Fran’s story different is she has been diagnosed with lung, liver and brain cancer and will be running the race despite the illness. She has just completed her chemo treatment and has been training really hard to achieve her fitness goals. In a series of blog posts, Fran will be updating you on her progress every two days leading up to the race.

Tuesday 11 April 2011:  
The day has arrived, it’s time to leave.  I spent the majority of the day at OR Thambo International nervously awaiting the departure of my flight. At the airport, I met the three members from Virgin Active who were lucky enough to bag tickets through a competition. The charity I’m supporting, Ma Afrika Tikkun, surprised me by arriving with some of their kids and presenting me with a beautifully beaded shoe. What an amazing experience!! The kids are awesome and our country has a bright future through them.

Wednesday 12 April 2011:
I arrived in London this morning, I’m not sure if it was the excitement of the impending marathon or nerves, but the flight to Heathrow Airport seemed to take hours. I didn’t sleep much on the flight and spent my day catching up on lost sleep. I decided to take a nice long walk to remind my legs why they are here.

Thursday 14 April 2011:
I had a short run through Hyde Park and Kensington Royal Gardens today, followed by a nice long walk to ensure I see as much as possible while I’m here. I thought I deserved a break after conquering the tubes yesterday. It took me two hours to get to the London Marathon Expo when the trip is in fact is only 30 minutes - that gives you an idea of the amount of involuntary sigh seeing I’ve done.

Friday 15 April 2011:
I had a brisk walk in Hyde Park this morning. I need to take it a bit easy though as I have developed a slight cold since arriving here. I called it a day at lunchtime - I need to rest as I’m not planning to miss out on the run on Sunday.