Here Tanya tells her story ......

Back in July we arranged a birthday party for my daughter Maisie and invited a number of her school friends.  One of whom was Hollie.  Around the same time we were having a dress down day and work, raising money for the Hope for Hollie campaign.  It was at this time that the realisation hit me that Maisie’s friend Hollie was the subject of the Hope for Hollie campaign.  I had spoken to Hollie at another birthday party some months previously and was shocked to find this bubbly, chatty, fun little girl was suffering from this terrible disease.  It was heartbreaking.

I therefore felt I needed to do something to support the campaign.  Being a keen runner, I had already entered Hellrunner Down South which is held at Longmoor Military Training Camp and involves running somewhere between 10 and 12 miles, over multi-terrain and varying underfoot conditions. The course is extremely hilly and has a number of water-filled areas which competitors have to run through.  As the event is held in November and I am not particularly keen on being submerged in freezing cold water, I decided this would be an ideal opportunity to get behind the Hope for Hollie campaign and raise some money for the Niemann Pick Disease Group (UK).

The day of the event was 28th November.   We turned up for the run and the temperature was down to -3.  Waiting around for the start was freezing cold and I just wanted it to be over.  If I wasn’t doing it for Hope for Hollie, I don’t think I would have gone through with it.  Anyway, once the run was underway I warmed up and started to feel a bit better.  After an hour of running up and down hills I was hit by the ‘Bogs of Doom!’ It was a case of jumping in, up to my chest in water and wading through for about 15 to 20 metres of freezing cold water.

After that, I thought we can't be far from the end.  We had a couple more steep hills to climb, then back into waist deep water again!  This time, trying to push the lumps of ice out of the way.  Then a few more hills again and in the distance I saw an inflatable archway.  I assumed this was the finish, so upped my pace to get to the end.  Once through the arch a marshal told me "Well done, only just over a mile to go."  I recall it was at this stage I thought never again!!!

Anyway, I got to the end.  I changed my clothes and was half way through my bacon sandwich when I started talking about doing it next year.  Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all!

The generosity of family, friends and work colleagues has been overwhelming.  They have given over £900 and I hope to get £700 of this matched by my employer, giving a total of over £1600 for NPD.  This amount has far exceeded my expectations.  Well worth a couple of hours discomfort for such a worthwhile cause.  I’m hoping to make this an annual event and get a team together for next year.  As yet, I haven’t had a rush of volunteers, but have had a couple of maybes.  Once the warmer weather comes I may have more success.

I wish you all the luck in the world with the Hope for Hollie campaign and hope a cure for this awful disease is found soon.