50K for Kira

Today is the day of our Ultra Challenge 💪 We arrived last night and pitched up our tent with a view of Dunster Castle in the sunset 🏰

Here are some updates before we set off at 9am:
- Unfortunately, the weather has taken a turn, with rain forecast all day and a Met Office Amber Warning for strong wind. 🌧️ Waterproofs will be our best friend today!
- As a result, we have opted to do the 25k as we are not experienced to complete the 50k with these conditions. The route has also been changed for the safety of all participants.
- We plan to complete another 25k (hopefully in better weather!) at a later date!

And most importantly, a big thank you to all the donated to our JustGiving page!🙏💜 This has now closed but we will reopen it for our next event once we know the date.

Hi again! 👋 We've been on a break from posting but are back again with an update of the past few weeks:
Week 8 ✅ - After the Blenheim 7k, we took a break over the bank holiday weekend for some well deserved rest 💆
Week 9 ✅ - Our 'run' to Trow Pool and back didn't quite go to plan, as the route took us through some long grass and Jasmine Poonwasie got rashes all over her legs. At Trow, we saw tadpoles and Taylor Masters found a frog! 🐸 We attempted to take a different route back, but unfortunately ended up being much worse as we fenced hopped our way through big fields of grass, thorns and cows! Luckily, we managed to find our way back and recovered with some ice cream🍦
Week 10 ✅ - Taylor took part in Bicester parkrun on Saturday with friends. Jasmine did a 2k Saturday evening and a 1 hour at home strength training session, focusing on hip opening and legs on Sunday. 🦵

Also, we each picked up new road running trainers this week and are looking to get some miles up in these! 👟

Coming up! On Friday we'll be on our Wales to set up camp ready to hike up Pen y Fan in the Brecon Beacons 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 It'll also be Taylor's birthday! 🎉 On Saturday morning we set off, so as soon as we get a signal we'll post how our journey went here.

As always, thank you for all the donations so far. If you haven't already, please check out the page at: JustGiving.com/crowdfunding/50KforKira 💚

Week 7: Day 3 Blenheim 7K ✅
Jasmine Poonwasie completed the 7K in 1h 10m 9s. Arriving with barely any time to spare with the traffic as it was, this was a much better finish time than I expected! 👟⏱️

Taylor Masters took some lovely photos of the views you can see from the race route too. He was a great support 💓🌳

Our next big challenge coming up is a 25K hike up the highest peak in the Brecon Beacons, Pen y Fan. Keep posted by following the page to see how we get on! ⛰️

Please consider donating to our cause, 50K for Kira to support us: JustGiving.com/crowdfunding/50KforKira 💟

Week 6 - Day 3: An update on James Anderson 's progress. 📈
This week, I completed:
•3 gym sessions Focusing on bullet proofing the legs to be able to run the marathon length.
•2 speed sessions to build speed for upcoming 10km race,
•a Easy 9K
•a long chill 16K first long session since the half marathon.

Been a slow week since the half marathon, now I’m building the miles back up slowly getting ready for the next challenges.

Week 6 - Day 2: Taylor Masters and Jasmine Poonwasie have been running throughout the week, and yesterday went up to Shotover Hill.
We practiced with inclines and declines in preparation for our next challenge. Trail running differs a lot compared with road running, so we adapted our pace and strides to manage the varying heights. We had a lovely time here seeing the lovely bluebells and countryside 🌳

We're both going to take on the highest peak in the Brecon Beacons, Pen y Fan (886m above sea-level), in mid-June. 🏞️ We have plotted our 25K route starting at Pencilli Castle where we will be camping, through the village of Llanfrynach, to Pen y Fan and following the Beacons Way back to camp. Our kit list is written up and ready for our trip too. ⛺

Please make sure to visit our JustGiving page: justgiving.com/crowdfunding/50KforKira to see what our training is all leading up to and to support our cause 💜

In exactly 3 months from today, we will be at the starting line for our 50K Challenge at Dunster Castle, Minehead. The countdown has begun! 🏁

To learn more about what lies ahead for us, check out the South West Coast 2 Coast Ultra Challenge website: www.ultrachallenge.com/sw-coast-50 🌊⛱️

As we inch closer to the event day-by-day, we are reminded of Kira's journey which keeps us motivated to continue. If you would like to support the cause, head over to: JustGiving.com/crowdfunding/50KforKira 💜

SW Coast 50 https://www.ultrachallenge.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/UC-Web-Header-Homepage.mp4 South West Coast 50Ultra CHALLENGE® 5 August 2023 2023 REGISTRATION NOW OPEN Minehead Basecamp 50 km Loop & 25 km, & 10K Camping Packages Transfers A fantastic ‘South West’ challenge for 2023 – taking in the ...

Week 5 - Day 1: Not quite as impressive as the half marathon the boys did on Monday, but yesterday I got out to a sports ground for a quick run after work. 🎽💨

On a side note, I now have a beautiful 15 minute walk between my office and car parking lot alongside the River Thames. I'll see all the wild flowers, geese and ducklings, canal boats and the sun glisten on the water for many months to come. 🌅 A lovely way to spend time outside after stressful rush hour traffic! 🚗🚦

As always, we appreciate each and every donation towards our goal. If you haven't yet, click the link below to help fundraise for Kira's surgery. 💞

www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/50kforkira

Update on our JustGiving page, including the Half Marathon finish times of James Anderson and Taylor Masters 👏🏃‍♂️🏃 Well done to both of you! 🎉

Help raise £500 to run 50K for Kira, raising money to get her the Gastroparesis treatment she urgently needs, which is not available on the NHS. Weʼre raising money to run 50K for Kira, raising money to get her the Gastroparesis treatment she urgently needs, which is not available on the NHS.. Support this JustGiving Crowdfunding Page.

The race is on! We just had a quick shower of rain but they're still going! Rory barked at every confetti canon at the start of the race, a sort of cheering on 😂

Rory and I are taking a calm stroll to the lake and heard lots of cheering at the checkpoint near Gulliver's Land. 📣👏

We passed the final water station and the beautiful canal. Not long now until they'll pass here too. 🚰

We have seen some great fancy dressers, such as this sparkling glitter ball ✨ and superheroes in the fun run, with many in support of various charities.
Good luck to everyone racing, you can do it! 🎉👏

Week 4: MK Half Marathon: It's race day! 🏁
Taylor Masters and James Anderson are numbered, warmed up and are at the start line ready to run. The event start time is 10am, but they will run in phases to allow time for everyone to spread out.

We will update you with their times once they cross the finish line! 🏃‍♂️🏃

Jasmine Poonwasie 's Week 3 - Day 1: Another 5K under the belt ✅
(Saturday we all ran our 5K Bicester parkrun, check out the JustGiving page for the update on this!)

Rory and I went for a morning run before our breakfast, enjoying the warm sun and gentle breeze.
For the first 1-2k, it was a struggle and my calves felt like they were burning, but we pushed on through to the end 🔥

I think the break last week has helped to heal my IT band soreness as I didn't any pain here throughout the whole run. We had a few areas of incline to strengthen my legs for my next incline challenge which will be to run at Shotover Hill with Taylor Masters, coming up soon. 🏃🏾‍♀️🏃🏼‍♂️

Rory's favourite parts were chasing birds, eating grass, walking through every puddle, and marking his territory on everything along the way... 🐕
My favourite parts were looking at the view over the train tracks, seeing the cows and finally making it home! 😆

Next up is to run more, strengthen up muscles and to beat my time for this 5K, minus the dog (sorry Rory!) 👟

Please support us and donate here: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/50kforkira

Thank you again for following our journey 🩷

Last week was a bit of a slow one for each of us. Recovering from a couple of injuries, we took a step back from solely running and focused on recovery 💪

Jasmine Poonwasie began the week by starting her new job and spending a couple of weeknights at the gym to aid recovery from IT band syndrome, as well as focusing on strengthening her shoulders, legs and hips from prior injuries 🏋️‍♀️

James Anderson really challenged himself to pick up the pace with speed work, and most recently completing a 20K in 1h 45mins! ⏱️

Taylor Masters went on a scenic run to Trow Pool running just under 8K in 45 minutes, as well as being the designated driver for the gym all week 🚗

This week we want to get really stuck into our running plans. Taylor and James are participating in the upcoming MK Half Marathon on May 1st so stay tuned! 🏃🏃‍♂️

We appreciate all your support with donations to our JustGiving page. Thank you for everything so far: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/50kforkira 💕

Week 1 - Day 2: Completed ✅

This run started off more challenging, I had cramps in my calves during the warm up, so I took it slowly and did some stretches. I didn't push it too much with this run, however the aim of this run was to build endurance. Rory sat this one out today to lay in the sun and do some yoga with me! 🧘‍♀️🤸‍♀️

Tomorrow we're all heading for Bicester to take part in the Bicester parkrun 5K. Starting off small, we'll build our way up to the 50K and take part in shorter running events like this leading up to the big day 🎽

To support our fundraising goal, please donate at: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/50kforkira 🩷

Week 1 - Day 1 of many completed:
We've each set out a workout plan to reach our target time to complete the 50k in. The first day is usually the hardest, but we know this is the start of a brilliant journey.

To make it a bit more fun, I brought Rory along with me for some moral support 🐕 his favourite part was coming home for a lie down!

Make sure you are following the page to keep up to date with our training and tag along with us 👟

To donate to 50K for Kira, click here: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/50kforkira

Thank you for your support 🩷

In 4 months time, myself, Taylor Masters and James Anderson will be taking on the 50K South West Coast 2 Coast Ultra Challenge in support of my beautiful cousin, Kira Roberts, to fundraise for her life changing surgery.

After a rowing accident in December 2020, Kira had a variety of hospital admissions with a multitude of symptoms including: viruses, intense pain, nausea and vomiting up to 40 times a day. Many tests came back negative and she later was given a nasal-jejunal feeding tube which she still uses to this day.
Kira's parents, Donna Roberts and Steve Roberts, would not give up however, and they went to see a specialist in London who diagnosed her with Elhers-Danlos syndrome and Gastroparesis. Since then, her symptoms have progressed to 2 cases of sepsis from infections, tube feeding difficulties, weight loss, all whilst affecting her mental and physical health. Although Sheffield Hospital has been very supportive throughout this journey, unfortunately due to the complexity of her illness, Gastroparesis surgery is not available through the NHS and needs to be privately funded.

The last time I saw my cousin was in February 2020, celebrating her 21st birthday before being admitted to hospital a few months later. In honour of her strength, I would like to encourage family and friends to donate to the JustGiving page below for my 21st birthday instead of gifts🎉

Donate Here: www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/50kforkira

Kira's loved ones have done an incredible job fundraising to this stage, but there is still a way to go in order for her to undergo this surgery.
If you have some change to spare, please click to donate to Kira's cause and share this page as we undergo 4 months of intense training. We will post regular updates and share Kira's progress here ❤️

To read more about Kira's Story, please see:
www.gofundme.com/f/gastroparesis-treatment-for-kira

To learn more about Elhers-Danlos syndrome and Gastroparesis, visit:
www.Elhors-Danlos.org.uk
www.nhs.uk/conditions/gastroparesis/

Thank you very much for taking the time to read, we appreciate all your support.