Conor ran in the 2022 London Marathon for the M.A
Conor applied to run for team M.A in the 2022 London Marathon after he and his partner Kerry experienced a devastating miscarriage in March 2021.
It was a very personal experience for me and I was running my very first marathon, I wouldn't have wanted to run for any other Charity other than the Miscarriage Association.
My partner, Kerry, and I have always wanted to be parents and we had been trying for some time to start a family without much luck but in late January 2021 our hopes and prayers had been answered when we discovered we had become pregnant. Needless to say we were over the moon and couldn’t wait.
Everything was going great until late March when Kerry discovered she was bleeding which gradually got worse over the day, we rang the doctor and Kerry was rushed to the hospital, we were having a miscarriage. Unfortunately as it was still COVID times Kerry had to spend the first few hours in A&E alone in agony until I was allowed in to be with her. Over the next few days it was confirmed that we had lost our baby, it really hit home when we had a scan the following day and the nurse confirmed that there was no sign of life.
The whole situation was devastating, Kerry & I had everything taken away from us with no explanation, we felt robbed. Our families & friends rallied around us to do the the best that they could to comfort us. Upon some of our research and support articles on miscarriage, we stumbled across the miscarriage association, and we discovered there was help available and we weren’t alone in our journey.
In October 2021 our friend was running the London Marathon so we went to support her. It was the first time I’d been in London for the marathon and loved the atmosphere so I signed up and chose the miscarriage association as my preferred choice that I’d like to raise money for. The process from start to finish was all straight forward, from signing up and receiving confirmation of race entry to setting up my just giving page. Obviously there is a minimum target to hit & pledge that you must commit to but it’s all clear from the get go.
When raising funds it’s so important to get the word out there early and make friends, family, colleagues etc aware of fundraising efforts via messages, social media, LinkedIn, email etc. And keep going at it until your blue in the face, once you have this done & the word is out then you can concentrate on your training, which I’d recommend starting at least 16 week’s ahead of the event.
Karn, Penny & the rest of the MA team were so helpful will all of the updates and assistance with fundraising and details on the big day, you couldn’t ask for a better team.
The whole day is very exciting and nerve wracking, and you feel like you could have done more training but the important thing is to enjoy the day, it’s an amazing & emotional experience like no other. The MA team will be at mile 18 to help and cheer you on, trust me you’ll need it as that point of the run is very tough. Having friends & family dotted along the route is really moral boosting and I’d recommend that they do it towards the last few miles as it will help spur you on and carry you over the finish line.