Claire completes the iconic London Landmarks Half Marathon for Juvenile Arthritis Research

"You have been immense support to the whole family."

Two weeks ago, Claire ran the iconic London Landmarks Half Marathon for Juvenile Arthritis Research. Claire was lucky enough to get a space in this year's individual ballot for the London Landmarks Half Marathon and wanted to raise funds for Juvenile Arthritis Research telling us "you have been immense support to the whole family" since her daughter was diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA). 

Claire achieved a Personal Best for the run of 2 hours 12 which is an incredible achievement.

"On the days I don't feel like going out to train I just remember what all the warriors with Juvenile Arthritis have to endure every day."

Claire wrote the following summary for us about her experience and what motivated her to run for Juvenile Arthritis Research:

Running the London Landmarks for Juvenile Arthritis Research was really emotional for me. When I stood in the holding wave pen ready to start I was quite nervous, but as with the days when I didn't want to train, I kept thinking of our daughter Grace and all the other warriors who have to battle and struggle daily with this condition that can be so cruel, and I knew at that moment that this run would be nothing like the fight they have on a daily basis. 

Several times around the route I had a tear in my eye, but supporters shouting my name and other runners asking me about who I was running for made every one of the 13 miles worth it!

I feel really thankful for the help you offered us when we first started our JIA journey and to be able to do this little amount of fundraising is a privilege. 

All the best

Claire

We are so grateful to Claire for supporting Juvenile Arthritis Research. Claire has raised an incredible £405 so far on her Just Giving page totally smashing her original target and with more off-line donations to come. 

When you choose to run for Juvenile Arthritis Research, it is so much more than just a run. 

When someone chooses to support Juvenile Arthritis Research with their fundraising they are choosing to show they care about the thousands of children living with JIA in the UK needing a little extra help and support. They are choosing to show that they care about families who may be feeling worried or confused at the time of diagnosis.  They are standing with us as we raise awareness to help speed up earlier diagnosis to help children with JIA have a better chance of achieving remission and living a full life. They are saying that they too want to one day see a cure for this condition so that no child has to suffer from arthritis in future. So when you choose to run for Juvenile Arthritis Research, it is so much more than just a run. Thank you.

Running for Juvenile Arthritis Research

If you'd like to run for Juvenile Arthritis Research, here are some tips that may help:

• Apply early for an individual space in the running event that you wish to run in directly to the race organisers. Charity places cost considerably more than individual places, and as a small charity it is far more cost-effective for runners to purchase their own individual space than for Juvenile Arthritis Research to purchase a space.  

• By arranging your own place in a run, you won't have the additional pressure of raising a minimum amount so you can focus on your training to make the most of your run.  Your fundraising can keep the fun in it without feeling the pressure of having to raise a minimum amount. 

• Plan in advance and set up your online donation page early. Set your own target and review it regularly. 

• Spread the word to friends and family about what you are doing and why. By sharing your motivations for running (perhaps you have a family member or friend with JIA) you can help raise awareness of the condition. 

• Once your place is confirmed in the running event you have chosen, and your fundraising page is set up and underway, then please remember to let us know about it. We will do everything we can to support you with social media shout-outs and we can send you one of our running t-shirts to help you raise awareness as you run. 

• If you're able to send us any photos in advance (this can be of you training for the event beforehand), we'd love to wish you good luck and give you a shout-out on social media. We also love to see photos of you at the running event. You can email photos to kipo@jarproject.org 

• Think about whether the local press or radio stations would like to hear about what you are doing. They may be able to give you a shout-out on radio which also helps to raise awareness of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis and the work of Juvenile Arthritis Research at the same time. 

• After the event, please send in any offline donations received as promptly as you can. You can find details of how to do this at https://www.jarproject.org/fundraising/getting-funds-to-us. Online giving pages will send the donations to us directly as long as you have set it up to have Juvenile Arthritis Research as your nominated charity. See more details here. Some running events may use their own online giving platform for donations. We are set up on most, but if we are not, just let us know and we can help. 

• We're here to help every step of the way! If you need anything from us that will help you in your fundraising, please let us know and our volunteers will do their best to help.

A note about the London Marathon: We are often approached by those wishing to run for Juvenile Arthritis Research in the London Marathon. In recent years, the charity ballot has been closed to small charities giving us no possibility of obtaining even a single charity place. We would encourage anyone wishing to run for Juvenile Arthritis Research to apply for a space in the individual ballot for the London Marathon. Let us know if you are successful in getting a place and wish to use it to raise awareness and funds for Juvenile Arthritis Research. 

Remember that we can only do the research, awareness and support work that we do thanks to our amazing fundraisers. So a huge thank you to everyone who has ever run for Juvenile Arthritis Research or is planning to!