Milestones

£500 – The mosaic ☑

→ If we reach £500, I will post a “thank-you mosaic” made of photos from my training runs. (see below)

£1000 – The video

→ If we reach £1000, I’ll record a fun video I will send to all the donors. You won't be disapointed :) 

£1500 – The London promise

→ If we reach the goal, I’ll carry with me on marathon day a small card listing all donors’ names. You will literally run the race with me.

£2000 – The run

→ If we reach £2000, I will run a GPS route in the shape of a star (for Starlight, obviously). Proofs will be provided.

£2500 – The video

→ If we reach £2500, I wiil record a short video right after crossing the finish line (sweaty, exhausted... and grateful) to thank everyone who helped make this possible. The goal is to run a sub 2h55 marathon. I will reflect on the objective, what the fundrising meant during the training process, and share a few thoughts about perseverance, purpose, and the kids who inspired every mile.

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Now that we’ve reached the first milestones, here are a few photos I took while running during a snowy January 2026.

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Update: I ran The Hague Half Marathon on March 15 in 1:20:56. I need your support more than ever; let’s go!!

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Update (April 2026): 

Done!

Not the time I was aiming for (around 2h50), but all things considered , a fever that hit on Friday, heat on race day (19°C!), and an injury still nagging, I’ll take it. PB on my watch (2:58 on distance), not on the official time. Both calves cramped at the finish line trying to sprint.

The short story: I decide to slow down from 4:00 min/k (6:26 min/mi) after only 7K (4.3 mi) as my heart rate was already above my typical average on a marathon. I knew that pace was a one-way ticket to blowing up at 25K (15.5 mi). So I eased off, told myself this was now a damage-control race. The heat kept doing its thing. I poured so much water on my head at every aid station that my shoes were squishing and my stomach felt cold. New plan: hold 4:10/km (6:42 min/mi) to 30K (18.6 mi), then see what’s left in the legs and accelerate. At 30K… I couldn't. The legs just weren’t answering. I actually slowed down even more.

But the crowd was incredible, and Sawe ran sub-2 the same morning, insane. I carried your names with me. The kids at Starlight were on my mind, especially in the hard kilometers. When the legs stop answering and you start asking yourself why you’re still out there, you need a reason that holds up. “I want a faster time” does not. “Kids in hospital rooms who don’t get to choose whether the day is hard” does. Every time I wanted to slow down a bit more, I thought about that. This is everything to me!

One takeaway I keep coming back to. I have described academic life and running as opposites. Your racing time does not depend on any committee giving you permission. And you have an objective way to measure progress. This remains true. But I now also see a common thread. The work you put in is never lost. It always pays off. Maybe not on the day you hoped for, but eventually, it will. A paper that gets rejected feeds the next one. A training block that ends in a disappointing race feeds the next one. The output may not arrive on schedule, but nothing you put in disappears. It compounds quietly until one day it shows up.

This one will pay off in the fall, on a flat, low-key marathon. Verona in November. Sub-2:50 is the goal, more than ever.

The fundraiser is still open. Every donation counts!

PS: I did record a video right after the finish line to thank you all, like I promised at the £2500 milestone. But I cried the whole way through, so I can’t really upload it. You’ll have to take my word for it.

Bonus: a big sunburn.