Well, the marathon has passed and our runners can breathe a sigh of relief. Having fully recovered, one of our runners, Alex, took some time to reflect over his experience on the day...

Having woken about 7am in a dodgy little room above a pub in Peckham, I was a little tired from the loud music being played fairly late the previous night. Deliberating over what would be the most beneficial breakfast, I sat staring at my packets of porridge. It had just occurred to me that were I to require the porridge, there wasn't a microwave in sight. Luckily a kind lady who had previously run the marathon offered to cook it the old fashioned way. Having eaten and showered, I still hadn’t fully entered the land of wakefulness, meaning I found myself waiting for a replacement bus service without realising I had moved. The trains weren't running today, which was just brilliant.

The marathon is lurking around the corner and although our runners are training hard on the long roads of their respective towns, they are also spending time thinking of ways to raise extra money for BackCare.

Running 26 miles and 385 yards in one go is quite some feat – one which most people would not attempt unless they had undergone a strict training regime for about a year.

So, with just over two months to go until the famous London Marathon, an email circulated these parts asking if anyone wanted to enter in representation of BackCare. Naturally, only those considered ‘gym monkeys’ or ‘mentally unwell’ responded in the positive, as only two months of training is quite obviously pushing it a bit. Thankfully there were plenty of employees fitting these categories and the responses came in fast. Four runners were chosen based on speed of response and determination to raise the money. These are now known as the ‘Fantastic Four’.

Over the next few months, the Fantastic Four’s exploits will be chronicled here. Until they stand on the start line in Blackheath on April 13, their rigorous training and charity fundraising events will keep all fearful thoughts at bay.
Please visit the Fantastic Four’s individual web pages to find out why each of them is taking on such a mammoth task:

Ella Weston
Alex Stannard
Michael McKernan
Callum Regan

Aside from these individual reasons, inspiration for the Fantastic Four to undertake such a body-battering event came mainly from BackCare’s great cause. BackCare is a national charity that helps in managing and preventing back pain.

Lower back pain affects upwards of 80% of us at some point in our lives and can be severely debilitating. There are approximately 2.5million people in the UK suffering from chronic back pain, meaning they are limited in their movement and, in a lot of cases, are unable to even sit comfortably for more than a few minutes without agonising pain kicking in. Despite this incredible prevalence, BackCare doesn’t have the emotive appeal of many other health-related charities. This makes fund-raising hard-going.

But BackCare’s work is vital. The charity funds important research into back pain, provides information via publications, supports a telephone helpline and promotes best practice in the prevention and management of back pain nationwide. See Back Facts UK 2005 for more on back pain.

Posturite maintains an excellent relationship with BackCare and fully supports the cause; after all, as one of the UK’s leading suppliers of ergonomic office furniture, we share the same sentiments and goals towards back pain.

If you would like to sponsor our Fantastic Four and help BackCare raise as much as possible, please visit our Justgiving page and donate as little or as much as you can.

Thank you in advance!