Done

Thanks once again to everyone for their support. I managed to complete the Niagara Falls marathon last Sunday in a time of 4:33:09. The race itself was, as expected, pretty hard work. I felt good and was on for a very satisfactory time until cramp well and truely set in at mile 22. I was reading a book on marathon running leading up to the weekend. One quote that stayed with me was "he who suffers remembers". I won't forget the last 4 or so miles in a hurry.

The finish line was rather spectacular. It was right alongside the falls themselves and they were a welcome sight after 4 and a half hours. Overall it was a brilliant experience and I can't wait to have another go. Best of luck to Matt and Mary Clay in their efforts - here's a link to their blog: http://mattmaryclayrace4oye.blogspot.com/. And thanks again for everyone's kind words of support and your contributions to this great cause. These thoughts helped get me through the final stint.

Cheers

Ben

Congratulations Ben!

On behalf of the Organization for Youth Empowerment, we would like to congratulate Ben for finishing the Niagara Falls Marathon on Sunday, an incredible accomplishment. Thanks to your generous support, Ben reached his goal of raising $1500 for OYE and even surpassed it, pulling in $1,588 from 33 individual donors! Go Ben, you are incredible!

For those of you who still want to sponsor Ben you can do so using the ChipIn! event below. Thank you Ben and thank you everyone who supported his efforts.

4 days left

Wow, thank you everyone. We have made our fund-raising target, which is brilliant. Please don't let this put anyone off donating though.

Training over the last couple of weeks has been tough only in that I am fighting off the urge to run further. However, all the books, websites and experienced marathoners are telling me to taper it off. So I've the enviable task of eating a lot and taking it easy this week.

Flying off to Niagara Falls on Friday. Relaxing day planned on Saturday and then into the marathon on Sunday. Its feeling pretty imminent and I'm keen to get on with it. Thanks again for your support. I'll let you know how it goes here.

Less than 3 weeks to go

Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me to date. I'm really chuffed with the response. This weekend just gone, I managed my final 'big' training run before the marathon itself (less than 3 weeks away). I was happy to complete 20 miles and very grateful to Grumpy, Kelly, Ryan and Sarah, who at various points kept me going with considered and intelligent conversation. I'm feeling much more confident of a successful outcome on the day.

Thanks also to my sister Helen, who (as a professional nutritionalist) has provided me with excellent nutritional advice about what to eat on the morning of the marathon. The race itself doesn't start until 10am to allow runners to enter the US from Canada and clear border control. So plenty of time for breakfast.

Ben

Running for OYE

Hello everyone, I shall be running my first ever marathon on the 24th October from Buffalo to Niagara Falls. They claim that this is the only marathon to start in one country and finish in another, so not only is it a long way to run, but also presents an interesting border crossing issue. With less than 4 weeks to go, training has not always gone to plan, but I'm on track now and very much looking forward to the event. I have decided to run for OYE Honduras, an organisation which provides education opportunities for at-risk children in (you guessed it) Honduras.

A few years back I spent a short amount of time in Malawi and Zambia and was taken aback by the issues faced by the young people there. After a bit of reading round, I discovered that the social environment within those countries experienced is very similar to that in Honduras. Because of this (in addition to personal ties to the charity directors), I was attracted to support this particular organisation.

Honduras is one of the poorest Latin American countries and as such many families cannot provide the resources their children need to complete an education. Honduras has a high rate of illiteracy (over 40% of the population) and accounts for over half of all Central America's cases of HIV/AIDS. OYE provides scholarships and other capacity-building and communication programs to provide tools to combat some of these problems where it is most needed. If you are interested in finding out a bit more, here's a link: http://www.oyehonduras.org/
Thanks,
Ben

OYE Honduras Video: We Are The Change

About Ben's Cause: OYE Honduras

Ben is raising money for the Organization for Youth Empowerment (OYE), founded by a friend, to benefit at-risk youth in Honduras. OYE is a small, grassroots organization that develops young people's self-esteem and leadership skills. OYE provides scholarships and capacity building programs to students who would not otherwise have the means to stay in school. Through OYE's programs, these youth gain the tools they need to become active leaders in their communities. OYE relies on individual contributions from friends like Ben to make their work possible. Learn more about OYE on their website www.oyehonduras.org.

You can help Ben reach his goal of raising $1500 for OYE by donating through the Chipin widget on the sidebar - it's fast and totally secure. You will be redirected to OYE's PayPal page where you can make a secure credit card donation directly to OYE.