Heather has both a professional and personal association with hospice care, having worked for Help the Hospices since August 2012 and also knowing people who have been cared for by hospices.
“We have both been affected by hospice care as some of our family members have been cared for by hospices and most recently I have experienced palliative care through someone who is terminally ill with cancer. The support that she and the family have all been given has been fantastic and is something very close to my heart, something that really affects me,” Heather said.
Soon after joining Help the Hospices, Heather volunteered to run the marathon on behalf of the charity, and her twin sister was also brought on board for the challenge.
“The job here definitely inspired me to do it, “ Heather said. “Laura and I decided to run the marathon as we wanted to challenge ourselves personally; we have run a half marathon before and thoroughly enjoyed it but felt we should try and do something more challenging. And it means I can tick something off of my bucket list!”
The pair, who are also best friends, have been training since December 2012 and have experienced lots of new sights, cold days (even training in the snow!), big hills (one nicknamed ‘The Hill of Death’) and even smelly farms during this time. But most importantly, they have also had a lot of fun and giggles together.
“We have trained together for the past four months and find it very difficult to train without the other. Personally I don’t think I would have managed it without her, she is very determined and has kept me going,” Heather said about her sister Laura.
“When we ran our last half marathon we ran it together and we also made a point to hold hands across the finish line, as we did it together we thought we ought to finish it at exactly the same time. We plan to do the same with the London Marathon.”
However, Heather has sustained a minor foot injury so she has made an agreement with Laura that if she is forced to walk, that Laura must run on without her.
“She has trained far too hard to let an injury of mine slow her down, and she won’t meet our target and finish in under four and a half hours,” Heather said.
Laura (apparently the clumsy one) has had a couple of falls during training, but luckily they only resulted in laughter, not injury!
Heather said she and her sister are disciplined in different areas. Laura, who is three minutes older, is more focused in the long term. Heather has a tendency to get bored with training but Laura makes sure they stick to it.
“It is so nice having each other to do it with. However monotonous and boring it does get, we get to spend time together, catch up, moan about our boyfriends etc,” Heather said with a laugh. “It’s nice just being us two.”
Despite actually enjoying the training and time with her sister, Heather did admit: “I can’t wait to have a weekend again!”
If you would like to support Heather’s fundraising efforts, visit www.justgiving.com/Heather-Oag1
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