Edition 116 Monday 14th November 2011
Hi, the road back to fitness is a long winding one, there is the odd hill for good measure. I have had setbacks and these have thankfully been off set with some little wins along the way. I will never underestimate the importance or value of fitness and health nor will I ever not listen to my body again…..time is a great healer. That said I am ahead of schedule (of course) and happy with my progress. No,Cameron Brown the champion Iron Man is not shaking in his boots yet but he needs to keep an eye out.Boris the injured Jones cat is also proving time is his best friend as he continues to recover slowly. The minor birds who nest annually in our letter box are thankful Boris is temporarily off the predator list! After making do for a number of years with a make shift BBQ and resisting the temptation to upgrade I finally weakened, mortgaged the house(again) and got a new one ! Crikey it is scooby doo, almost too scared to wear it out, I am sure I will get over it as the summer and festive season approaches rapidly…..bring it on.
I hope you had a relaxing weekend with family and friends. Have a great week, cheers Jonesey!
Harry Jones the #1 BBQ assistant hound chef welcomes the new oven with open paws!
“It has been very humbling. It shows that New Zealand is full of good bastards.”
Jup Brown….Kiwi Legend
I love reading inspirational stories about ordinary blokes or blokess’s just like you and I who achieve extraordinary things. I have been following one such story about someone who fits the bill perfectly.
Jup Brown is definitely one of those people in my eyes. He has just completed a run of 2900km in 67 days through New Zealand . That is one and a half times the length of New Zealand and 40-50km for every day along the way! The 38 year old plumber from Wanaka ran to raise awareness and money for The Stroke Foundation. Tragically there are 45,000 stroke survivors in New Zealand who need help to reach their full potential.
He was inspired and accompanied by his good mate Nick Chisholm, the amazing thing about that is Nick became a stroke victim as a 27 year old after a rugby accident. It left him unable to walk or talk! Incredibly Jup ran a 100km fundraiser earlier that raised $40k to buy Nick a special bike so he could make the NZ run! Two ordinary blokes combining their amazing enthusiasm and determination to do their bit for many other similarly affected kiwis, an extraordinary success story
I remember watching an interview on Campbell live as they set off and being moved to tears as they were both interviewed with Nick answering questions by pointing to letters on a board that made the words of his reply !...incredible. I will also always remember Jup saying to the reporter that the marathon he was about to embark on had taken on a special significance as his dad had also recently had a stroke! In classic bloke style he had said to his dad after the stroke “you better not die mate or I will come to the funeral and punch you in your coffin.” The following is a powerful extract from the article that sums it all up perfectly, I hope you get something positive from it to launch your week!
“Jup has simple advice for people who are battling adversity in their own lives:”Keep trying and believe that nothing is impossible. We all have challenges in our lives but you never know what you can achieve if you keep at it. Dream big because you determine whether you will get there or not. I know that after running this I will never say that something is impossible again. But the best advice I can offer is…get a lot of people to support you. The people I have met have given me the power and mental strength to achieve this.”
“There are always people worse off than me, and we need to remember that” Jup Brown (ordinary bloke, extraordinary New Zealander)
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