CJD Marathon Walk 27th July 2013

CJD Marathon Walk Completed!

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare and fatal condition that affects the brain. It causes brain damage that worsens over time. Most people with CJD die within a year of the symptoms starting

London Gas started fundraising for the CJD Support Network in 2010 following the death of a long time member, Julian Bailey from the disease February 2010.

This year we decided to walk the London Marathon Route to raise funds for the network. It seemed appropriate to do this being London Gas but also because Julian was a regular marathon runner. Myself and Kevin MacKenzie decided to set up our team web page, Julians Rovers, on Just Giving, and we were soon joined by Steve Forbes, a long-time friend of Julian based in Bristol and Bristol Rovers Director, Ken Masters to make a team of four.

We decided to walk the marathon route on Saturday 27^th July and then set about some practice walks to get our legs used to distance walking. Following walks of various lengths between 10 and 22 miles, and a lot of emailing, tweeting and Facebooking to raise sponsorship for our walk, we met and Blackheath Common for the walk.

We were given good send off at the start by Julians wife, Jeanie and their son Tom, daughter Lucy and friends. They also cheered us on at Cutty Sark, and we had some family, friends and some London Gas meet us along the way and walk with us for part of the route.

We completed the 26.2 mile route on The Mall in 8.5 hours and adjourned to a local pub consume that well known remedy for sore feet and aching legs. Cider.

It was a memorable way to raise funds for a charity that is completely reliant on donations to carry out their important work, and also remember Julian who was a top bloke and a Gashead for over 50 years.

We are still looking for sponsors and you can donate on our Just Giving page.

www.justgiving.com/teams/juliansrovers