Be naive enough to start and stubborn enough to finish

Be naive enough to start and stubborn enough to finish - Ross Edgley

When I finished my 1st ever London Marathon, I was pretty ticked off 👀

I ran in memory of my friend for Young Lives VS Cancer.

I was literally wearing a charity top with his name on it and yet people cared more about my finish time then why I was running.

And nah, BUGGER THAT!!! 🙅🏼‍♀️

The questions lacked connection and totally missed the point.

I didn’t hate the players but I was sure going to change the game.

I wanted to run again but make the charity logo so obnoxiously big that people couldn’t help but ask about their work.

I had no idea how I was going to do this but I was naive enough to start.

And when I decided on a big idea, it required big help. So I asked Guinness World Records. But they said it wasn’t possible as my idea had never been attempted before. This resulted in me naively writing a personal email to the head of GWR asking them to create me a brand new record. And bugger me, they said yes (twice!)

So along with my friend David, we next found a team that were just as naive and passionate about raising awareness for Young Lives vs Cancer as us. And we worked as a team who were stubborn enough to finish.

And to cut a long story short…

8 runners, 2 obnoxiously big logo covered 20kg childhood costumes, 2 young cancer charities, 2 GWRs, 2 GWR books in 100 countries, 2 BBC Sport interviews, a mention in every major British newspaper, a BBC iplayer screensaver, a shout out from Queen Paula Radcliffe, over £50,000 of fundraising, literal blood, sweat, tears and a selfie with Ian Beale later….

I think we made our point.

Everyone asked about the charity at the finish line.🎗🏆

Be naive enough to start towards your goal and if your why is strong, you’ll always be stubborn enough to finish.

(Just don’t be stubborn enough not to ask for help).

Big love, Meg 💛✨