On the 14th of March this year I ran a 10km race in Regent’s Park to raise money for the international humanitarian medical aid charity, Médecins Sans Frontières. This year there were around of 250 us running – university students and members of the public from in and around London.
But that was just the start. Here is a list of events I’ll be running for MSF this year, culminating with the Berlin Marathon in September this year – my first marathon.
Steps to Berlin
March 14 – 10km for friends of MSF – Regent’s Park, London – DONE
April 11 – 10 mile race – Denbies Vineyard, Surrey – CANCELLED
Replaced with May 1 – Oxon 40/20 (21 mile trail run) – DONE
April 25 – Shakespeare Half-Marathon, Stratford-upon-Avon – DONE
June 5 – Otmoor Challenge (Trail Half-Marathon), Oxford
*July 25 – Dartmoor Mountain Half-Marathon (Trail), Dartmoor (TBC)
September 26 – The big one: The Berlin Marathon
I’m meeting all my entry costs, flights, accommodation etc – what you donate goes to MSF, not me. This site (http://www.justgiving.com/SarbJohal) is a great way for you to sponsor me and make sure that MSF receives the donations. It is very easy to use, and if you are UK tax payer this site makes it easy for MSF to claim back an extra 28% from your donation.
What you can do to help
It would be fantastic if you could sponsor me. Médecins Sans Frontières is an international humanitarian medical aid charity which is currently working in around 60 countries around the globe. Some of their recent efforts have been directed towards the devastating earthquake in Haiti, the ongoing unrest in Sudan and the so-called ‘neglected diseases’ such as Chagas. There’s information about MSF at the bottom of this email – please have a read or visit http://www.msf.org.uk/ourwork_where_work.aspx for more information. MSF’s YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73zMcdGfXGE) also gives a great overview of the organization.
Those of you who know me well also know that I’ve done quite a lot of work on psychosocial support after disaster events. In the case of Haiti, MSF’s emergency ward are still treating large numbers of patients but the nature of their injuries is gradually changing. Fewer people are appearing with wounds directly caused by the earthquake, but now the indirect consequences of the disaster are beginning to manifest themselves, with more children suffering from diarrhoea and more people coming forward with physical symptoms of mental trauma.
Feel free to get back in touch with any questions. If you’d like to come and support me on the day of any run, please let me know – it would be great to see you and hang out after the race. If you want to join me on a training run, that’d be great too.
Please do sponsor me – any amount will be gratefully received, and it will all help us raise money for a very deserving cause.
