Anyone who knows me relatively well will know that I’m not the most active person. I love being comfortable and I think I could easily put “Being sentient” on a CV. Even now, while I write this I’m also playing Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 (Boys can multi-task too). However, some things have to change. I was in New Zealand in January for my mammies’ civil partnership and remembered that I actually do enjoy a bit of physical activity. At that point, I decided I had to do something (anything!) in “the outdoors” (even if that only meant in Dublin 1). Being in final year, there was very little I could do apart from work and study, but since May I’ve been doing the occasional jog. I know I’ll need a little more motivation than just running the marathon however, so I’ve decided to do it for a good cause. You’ll probably know by now that I do some work for Positive Behaviour Ireland (although I’ve never actually mentioned that here), a small non-profit based in Dublin. PBI provides education services for young people in Dublin who otherwise would not be receiving education. We also provide parenting support in the form of parenting courses (The Incredible Years), behavioural assessment and behaviour management plans. Anyway, we’ve applied for our charity number and, with a little luck, we’ll get it in the next two months. We’ve had a couple of fundraising events in the past, from Paddy Ryan’s Vienna marathon and the Laughter Lounge comedy night to Niall O’Byrnes’ current ascent of Denali (Mt McKinley) in Alaska. We’ve recently had a successful funding application to the Edmund Rice Foundation and are also planning a move of premises in August to a space three times the size of our current centre – things are on the up-and-up for PBI!

So, anyway, the point of all this is that I am doing the Adidas Dublin City Marathon on October 25th 2010 in aid of Positive Behaviour Ireland and I want your sponsorship. Yes, yours. So go on, donate here. Go on. It’s really really easy. Donate as much or as little as you can. €10 is a good starter amount – I’ll be delighted and really appreciative if you donate above that. Also, get creative! How about this for a spur of the moment idea – if I get over €1000 I’ll do the whole marathon in drag. That’s 26.2 miles of Conor dressed up as a woman (I’ll wear trainers though – no way am I wear stilettos for a marathon!). Maybe you could sponsor me a euro a mile? How does that sound? Anyway, do what you can. If you can’t give a lot, get another two people to donate as well. It’s all for a good cause anyway – giving education and parenting skills to people who can then go on to do great things.

I’ll be doing a few other runs before the marathon itself, so hopefully by that point I’ll have some idea of how well I’ll do. Bear in mind, this is the first time I’ve ever jogged or run – it’s going well so far but I really need to stick to the routine I have. I’m aiming to jog/ run five times a week. I’m enjoying it so far – and rewarding myself with chocolate milk afterwards 😉

Thanks for reading and if you’re running the marathon (and especially if you want to get involved with fundraising for PBI) leave a comment! I’ll probably be Tweeting about training, so you can catch me there too. What I’d really like is to share a run a week with someone who has already run a marathon – so that I can get tips off them. Know anyone? Please do let me know.

Conor