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Running for Ella

Hammersmith man, Ed Owen, is supporting CF Research in the London Marathon

Ed Owen, Hammersmith resident and special adviser to the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, is running in this year's London Marathon to raise money for cystic fibrosis research. Over the next six months, he writes for The Green about his training.

I had no idea how hard preparing for the London marathon would be - and I'm not talking about the running. Indeed, while I listen patiently to those wise sages who tell me how vital it is that by now I should be able to jog to Croydon and back, it is fair to say that my training schedule has not just been slow at getting started, it has yet to be woken from its long slumber.

The truth is that my marathon preparation has so far been more Tara Palmer-Tomkinson than Paula Radcliffe. For while I should have spent my last three weeks developing my "slow-twitching muscles" (whatever and wherever they are) and improving my cardiovascular efficiency (whatever that is), most of my spare time has been taken helping to organise a champagne reception at one of London's most exclusive venues to launch a fund-raising effort to raise £100,000 for cystic fibrosis research.
Now let me assure you that this is not my natural line of business - far from it. Yes, I work for the Foreign Secretary and have come across some important people over the years. But I'm more a lager and crisps man than champagne and canapes.

I suppose my story begins 16 months ago when Joanne and I became parents for the first time, to a beautiful daughter called Ella. Today, Ella looks, sounds and behaves just like every other one-year-old child. She's cheeky, inquisitive, funny and, yes, a handful. The difference is that she has cystic fibrosis, a genetic condition which attacks her lungs and other organs. For the time being, Ella is doing really well, and a daily routine of drugs and physiotherapy is helping to ensure that she lives a life as normal as possible. But the life expectancy for her and the thousands of other kids in the UK born with CF is just 31 years.

The good news is that scientific research is tantalisingly close to developing a gene therapy which would transform Ella's life, and the lives of families like ours up and down the country. Yet, as ever, this needs money. So when two friends of mine, Justin Russell, who works for the Prime Minister, and Mark Davies, an old schoolmate who also works in Westminster for BBC News Online, told me they wanted to run the London marathon to raise money for CF research, I had no other option but to say "count me in!"

In the weeks since I have since been amazed and humbled by the incredible support our campaign has received from friends, family, contacts and even people I barely know. My boss, Jack Straw, readily agreed to allow us to use his official residence at 1 Carlton Gardens (he doesn't actually live there, but modest it is not) for the launch party. Sir David Frost has agreed to attend too, along with friends, colleagues, MPs, Ministers and, hopefully, a sprinkling of telly stars too. A neighbour - who runs an animation company, Voodoodog - has designed our wonderful logo. Mark's brother has set up a website. And others have put us in touch with businesses like GlaxoSmithKline, which is sponsoring the launch event, and Allied Domecq, which has donated 120 bottle of champagne!

But, as those wise sages would probably say, fancy parties don't appear in any marathon training manual - and it's not as if I can afford to be taking my training so lightly. Yes, I have kept myself relatively healthy over the years with the odd football game and my daily walk to Ravenscourt Park tube station, but the lean physical specimen of my early 20s left me for another man some time ago. At 36 years old, I am what you might describe as a little beyond my best.

One friend suggested that wearing a silly costume would provide the perfect excuse to avoid actually running the marathon next April. Yet the very thought of dressing up as a trussed-up chicken or pantomime horse is enough to get me jogging. Having said that, there's a charity football match and a fundraising dinner to arrange for early next year too. See you next month, and I'll tell you how I get on.

If you want to support the Running for Ella campaign you can do so on www.runningforella.info or by emailing runningforella@hotmail.com. Ed is looking to raise £100,000. Any local companies interested in sponsoring Ed and this regular column should do so via editor@thegreenmag.co.uk

Originally published in the Green. Republished with kind permission.