GO ROBINProject!
PLEASE sign up for either a flat sum or for a dollar amount per mile. It really doesn't matter how much, just sign up, and show your support to Robin. Remember, all the money raised will go to save lives in the BVI.
Contact terry.ellis@live.com or Mike Pringle at michael.pringle@barkeradams.com
Robin in Training
Rotarian Robin Tattersall writes: Those of you who were at the last meeting will have heard President Lorna informing you that I am at this late hour trying to elicit donations for our Rotary Club's Cancer Fund in connection with my upcoming attempt to complete the Athens Classic Marathon race which is now only four days away.
This letter is to give you all more information in the hope that you will pledge to support me in raising funds for this worthy cause. I must apologise for the fact that this appeal is coming so close to the event, indeed after I had already arrived in Greece in preparation for the race. One reason is that having sustained an injury half way through my training which stopped me for several weeks, it is only very recently that I have felt confident that I would be able to make it to the start let alone the finish. The Athens Classic Marathon this year is very significant as it is the 2,500th anniversary of the Battle of Marathon when the Greeks defeated the Persians who outnumbered them by fifteen to one. Had the Greeks lost, then all the Greeks would have been killed, Athens would have been destroyed and most probably the development of western democracy put back by a few centuries. Indeed we ourselves might not now be enjoying the fellowship that we do today!
After the battle, a young Greek soldier, Pheidipides, ran the twenty-six miles from Marathon to Athens and having delivered the words ''the victory is ours" dropped down dead. The marathon as an athletic event was only first run when the modern Olympic Games began in Athens in 1896, and Sunday's race will take place over the original course, starting in the ancient town of Marathon and finishing in the old 1896 Olympic Stadium.
Over 11,000 people will take part including many of the world's elite marathon runners. Fortunately for me, being over 80 years old and not having run for any distance for over half a century, there is also a power walking section, and it is in that category into which I am entered. I doubt whether there will be many other over eighty-year-olds competing. The time limit is eight hours, and although my main goal is to complete the 26.2 miles within that time, if all goes well I hope to finish with ample time to spare.
In recent years marathons have been a basis of raising money for charities and having got to the point when I know for certain that I am going to be able to start and have a very good chance of finishing, I would like to see my efforts achieve some good for our community rather than merely my personal gratification. That is why I am appealing to club members to pledge an amount, either for the whole race, or per mile that I complete. Some members have already done so, including myself at a hundred dollars a mile. I hope that many others will follow.
As a member of our Club's Cancer Fund Committee, I believe this to be a worthy cause, and I look forward to your generous support. Rotarians Mike Pringle and Chris Ghiorse as well as President Lorna are helping in this endeavour. Lorna has also asked me, and I have agreed, to speak about the experience on my return, provided of course that I do not suffer the same fate as poor Pheidipides!
My best to you all,
Robin