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Angela completes 'Race for Life' updated 18th May 08
Dominic has a website
Kathryn's horse, Dominic, has his own website.
Pay a visit and read all about him at www.dominichorse.com
Angela completes 'Race for Life'
Angela Cherrington
As many people know, I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma in October 2006. I was very ill with only weeks to live unless successfully treated. I am very happy to report that treatment was successful and I am in currently 'in remission'. In celebration of this fact, and in gratitude for the wonderful (but gruelling!) treatment I was given, I entered the Race for Life. My event was on the 18th May 2008.
You can visit my sponsorship page at:-
http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/angelacherrington
My report of the event written on 18th may:-
The weather was perfect, bright and sunny but not too hot. My husband Keith drove me to pick up my two friends, Linda and Petra, and he dropped us off on the Downs. It was amazing to be with so many people, all touched in some way by cancer. We did the warm up led by some girls on a large stage with a big TV screen at the side. Well, I say 'we' did the warm up but I didn't! Since we were only going to be walking I felt I didn't need it really and I needed to conserve all my energy to get round the 5K course. We slowly filtered to the start and several times I suddenly found myself crying. It's quite an emotional experience reading all the things people have written on their backs and I think it was also the fact that I was actually alive and there. Last year I sponsored several people, one of whom was Jackie Cull. She was a very inspirational person fighting a hard battle with cervical cancer. I was so ill at that time and couldn't do much but lie in bed. This year, there I was doing the Race for Life and she is gone. She died on 20th April aged only 37.
The atmosphere at the race was great though - not sombre at all, quite upbeat and we had lots of laughs on the way round. Many people were in fancy dress and the stewards along the way were very cheerful and encouraging. I was pleased to see the finishing line as, although I seemed to have sufficient energy, my knees and hips started to hurt at 1K and got progressively worse. I'm a bit apprehensive about how well I'll be moving tomorrow but I am fortunate as Keith is a Bowen Therapist so I will have some expert treatment to help me make it to work tomorrow!
When I booked on line to do Race for Life I had to estimate the sponsorship I would get. This question was a surprise to me and I just plucked a target of £500 'from the air'. I didn't really think I would get that much but to date have about £570 promised! I am very pleased with this. Thank you to everyone who sponsored me. If you would still like to, you can, but no pressure - I know there are so many things going on all the time.
We never set out to 'race' and just walked at an easy pace. We completed in 1hr 15 mins and would have been a little quicker if not for the 'bottle neck' at the start. This was much better than I expected. I had been a little anxious about it, as many people know, so it's nice to have it safely behind me now.
I'm resting on the bed and just about to drink a nice cup of ginger and lemon tea Keith has just brought up for me.
There are a few pics here if you want to have a look.
Thank you to all who have supported me, you're great.
Angela
Taking the BDS Road Driving Test
by Kathryn Dayer
There is nothing easier than harnessing a horse to a carriage and toddling off down the road for a jolly drive. But to do all this with someone watching you and, what's more, accompanying you on this journey, turns every part of your anatomy to jelly, your one remaining brain cell finds a place ten paces behind your head and you suffer from an inexplicable loss of memory.
I was shaking so much I had a job to pick up the harness and then I was faced with several serious problems such as which goes first, the collar or the saddle, how tight do I do the girth and which straps do I attach first - the traces or the breeching? Add the fact that my horse, who usually stands stock still for the harnessing, decided to swing sideways as I approached with the cart then proceeded to walk backwards before he was fully attached to the cart and you have the complete picture!
Sue Townsend offered helpful advice and after several comments from me, in which the said horse should have had serious concerns for his future health and well being, I achieved the seemingly impossible task of being ready for the drive more or less correctly. How I wished the ground would open up and swallow me whole. The sooner the better!
Kathryn, driving Dominic, returning from the Test with Sue
Despite this rocky start Dominic strolled out of the lorry park, passed all the scary signs and waited patiently before being asked to walk onto the road. It was lovely, quiet place to drive a horse with most of the traffic being people arriving and leaving the test towing carts and horse boxes to say nothing of the occasional horse lorry! Then the memory loss returned and I couldn't remember how to signal I was turning left let alone when I should use the signal that I was slowing down! Despite this, the drive was relatively uneventful apart from one shy at a particularly threatening stone which had an ugly face and seven legs with which it was about to chase us - allegedly.
We had to turn around using a small, suitably placed triangle of grass and, of course, who woke up then because he was going home? Dominic. He flew along the road, using his best extended trot, determined to get this ordeal over as quickly as possible, but he did listen when I asked him to slow down? Eventually!
We sedately walked back into the field where I was then faced with the last problem - well - I put it all on the horse but how on earth do I take it all off? Dominic turned his head around and looked at me disbelievingly "Well, come on. I haven't got all day to stand here. I haven't eaten for the past hour and I feel pretty weak from the lack of food!" I eventually sorted the problem and Dominic tucked into his haynet. Thankfully I learned that I had passed my Driving Test. What a relief. I will break the news to Dominic later that he has to do it all again with a different driver!
Dawn Pople, also driving Dominic, returning from the Test with John
Many, many grateful thanks to Hazel Woodbridge for all her tireless hard work in organising the training and test days, and to Claire Wigmore for the unenviable task of showing us how to do things in the right order. My certificate proudly stands on my computer table, next to the picture of me returning from the test with Sue Townsend taken, as were all photos, in a spare moment by Hazel Woodbridge!