John Hibbs | Lupus Awareness Advocate | Marathon Runner » Support

Cannock Chase

John Hibbs — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 18:00:14 +0000

As many of you will have seen in the news this week, the Government are planning to sell-off woodlands managed by the Forestry Commission such as Cannock Chase.

I have been fortunate to live on the edge of Cannock Chase all of my life and enjoy it everyday. Whether I’m walking the dog, enjoying a bike ride or training for a marathon. Cannock Chase is part of my life.

To ensure that access remains and that this valuable resource isn’t lost we must act now!

Please sign the petition and join the facebook campaign and help save Cannock Chase!

All the latest news can be obtained form the website www.savecannockchase.org

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How do I donate?

John Hibbs — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:00:43 +0000

It is a great feeling when someone comes up to you and says “how do I donate?”.

Well it’s really simple thanks to JustGiving. There are many ‘Sponsor me’ links on this site which will take you to our secure sponsor page. LUPUS UK gets your money straight away and, if you’re a UK taxpayer, JustGiving makes sure 25% in Gift Aid, plus a 3% supplement, are added to your donation.

It doesn’t matter how much you give, every single penny will help make a difference. All the money we raise will be used to help continue funding the Lupus UK specialist nurse and the Lupus UK research co-ordinator, both based at Queen Elizabeth/City Hospitals, Birmingham – the first fully patient-funded posts of their kind in the UK.

Thank you for your support!

John & Kate

Twitter support

John Hibbs — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 20:41:45 +0000

The cupboards have been cleansed of anything that may hinder my journey to become a marathon runner and I must say I’m craving the quadruple chocolate cookies but I’m coping. In order to counter the pangs of craving, I have been training hard this week. Despite the snow piling up outside, I did a dicey snow run on Wednesday with the wind from Russia blowing against me but I battled on. I also have two PT sessions under my belt so I felt I was doing well. My trainer pushed me to the edge leaving me feeling tired but fit.

I did a good run on Friday and with the holidays looming I have acquired a gym buddy in the form of my wife who keeps me entertained if nothing else with her attempts to keep the pace.

But today I seem to have hit the wall. Making an early visit to the gym, I was hoping to get another good run in, as suggested by the training plan I’m following. However, I just couldn’t keep going. With sharp pains in my shins and throbs from the already sore knee, I admitted defeat and moved over to the bike which left me feeling really quite low. I turned to Twitter posting a tweet suggesting my sad face but within minutes my spirits were raised as a host of positive messages to keep going arrived. One tweet, in particular stood out, from Liz Yelling, the Olympic marathon runner. She advised me to keep my head up – so with her words in mind, I have decided that tomorrow is another day and I will return to the climb the wall in the style of ‘Run Fat Boy Run’. Gym buddy in tow, I will get to the start line of this marathon. Thanks Liz – what an inspiration. Thanks too to my Twitterers.

Wedding, Honeymoon, LFC Paintings, Beverley Knight, iBostin, Lupus 5K run and the PMs Wife!!

John Hibbs — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 18:05:00 +0000

Waow – it’s been a long time since my last update but so much has happened. I got married and travelled halfway around the world to enjoy my honeymoon where I had a few runs along Seminyak beach – Bali.

Upon my return I contacted Wendy Mallas, a portrait artist who gives her work for charity auctions. She has generously offered to create two portraits and with my links to Liverpool FC I have gained some fantastic action shots of Torres and Gerrard, which will be used in the portraits and signed by the players. These will then be auctioned for LUPUS West Midlands – watch this space for further information.

Then the next amazing event happened, Beverly Knight, local soul singer, whom I have been following on Twitter gave me a mention on Beacon Radio’s breakfast show. Knowing many people who suffer from Lupus, Beverly has offered her support for future events to raise cash for LUPUS West Midlands. Beverly has pledged to run the ‘Promise Dreams’ run so I might get to meet three of my heroes: Beverly, Suzie P and the mighty BULLY!

Along my journey so far I have been lucky enough to gain the support of bostin bloke, Donato Esposito who works to promote the Black Country through his website iBostin (www.ibostin.com). The recent iBostin newsletter featured an article about my plan to run the London Marathon in aid of LUPUS West Midlands. I really do appreciate the bostin publicity!

The donations are coming in thick and fast. I’ve received sponsors from a very charitable guy who has started following me on Twitter, one from Moira and Bill Bain dedicated supporters of LUPUS West Midlands (Thanks Nan & BIll) and last but not least a kind donation from Stuart Woodhams, our fantastic wedding photographer. Take a look at his excellent work at stuartjamesweddings.com.

Today, a group of us completed the Birmingham 5K ‘Do It For Charity’ Run (see photo above). I set my P.B with 34 minutes. Some of the others, however, dressed as butterflies, came in a little later but having enjoyed themselves all the same!! Take a look at the picture on the photos page. Our LUPUS West Midlands charity run group is growing heartily.

To top off a fantastic series of events none other than Sarah Brown, the P.M’s wife has tweeted me, which means that the profile of LUPUS West Midlands will now reach thousands -Thanks Sarah.