Phil Runs the Prague Marathon (in memory of John Shurmer)

On Sunday 3rd May , I'll be going the whole hog running-wise as I plan to take on the Prague Marathon . It'll be my first attempt at a marathon. To add extra incentive, I have decided to use this as an opportunity to help support my good friend Zoe, who is raising donations for Cestá Domů , a home hospice that cared for her loving husband John, who we sadly lost in January. 

Below is more information written by Zoe from her own donation appeal page she has set up for the hospice, which you can also donate to:

"If you knew John, then you knew that he had boundless amounts of love...for his family, friends, skiing in powder, fishing by a lake, biking, mountains, hiking and pulling some bends on his motorbike. He loved his life deeply.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Metastatic melanoma cut his love of life short.

He wanted to live, love and make wishes, right until the end. His most important and final wish was to die peacefully at home surrounded by love. I felt privileged to take on the role of wish granter, but for this final wish we needed support.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Whilst we were blessed with support from family and friends - near and far - we couldn't have done it without the care from the home hospice Cesta Domů (the journey home).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

But what did this mean to John? 

Please support Cesta Domů with a donation and recognize the support they showed to make John's final wishes come true.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Thank you, from both of us.”

For me, running a full marathon is a huge personal challenge that I have been tempted to try for a while and I'll finally be giving it a go with just one month left of my 30s! Since last summer, I've managed to shed a fair bit of timber with one eye on this race and since the start of this year, I've been successfully (so far!) following a marathon training plan that, as well as see me improve my running pace and general fitness to peculiarly unfamiliar levels, it has seen me actually genuinely enjoy getting up to go running at 6am before work (something I simply can't get my head around).  

As a child, I was inspired by watching my dad run the London Marathon three years in a row. He sadly passed away almost two years ago, and I know that he would be very proud to see me following in his footsteps (and he would also appreciate the deliberate pun I made there). That's more than enough motivation for me to do the marathon, but using it as a chance to raise money in memory of John, who was one of the most kind-hearted and gentle souls you could wish to meet, makes it even more worthwhile. His loving wife Zoe has been one of my closest friends over the years that I have lived in Prague and it would mean so much to her if we could help raise as much money as possible for the hospice that helped her, John and their family navigate such an unimaginably difficult time.

So please donate to either this page or Zoe's page ( https://www.darujme.cz/vyzva/1205311#vyzva - funds on both pages go directly to Cesta Domů) and help keep John's memory alive by supporting those who supported him so well.