Welcome to “Running the Tube Lines!” I’m Stephen Wright, I created this website back in November 2010 to document my progress in becoming the first person to run the length of every branch of every line of the London Underground (and the Docklands Light Railway!)
I am a keen runner but this 435 mile initial challenge was somewhat unique. I generated an ongoing interest in what I was doing over the initial 11-month period to write about the many and varied challenges which affected me and my wife Zoe in our troublesome journey towards parenthood. These challenges manifested themselves in terms of surviving cancer; handling the concept of a twin pregnancy; and – sadly for us, losing that pregnancy back in early 2007 after 21 weeks. Further to that, during 2011 we experienced the thrill and excitement of becoming pregnant again, and taking things very carefully, but also losing that singleton pregnancy at 22 weeks, back in May.
In addition to raising people’s awareness about these issues and experiences, we are proud to have helped raised £7,300 in funds which has been given to SANDS – the stillbirth and neonatal death support charity – for the purposes of preventative research. We hope that this will help in a modest way towards enhancing understanding about the causes of miscarriage, to help reduce its incidence and consequential loss going forward.
In November 2011 I am embarking on a programme of further awareness-raising between now and the London Marathon in April 2012. I have identified at least 100 more miles of running adventures to be completed across town, using the Overground Network and the Tramlink as inspiration. I hope that people will continue to be interested and amused at my journeys across London and also our journey towards parenthood. I write about our experiences as prospective parents living within a complicated and frustrating UK healthcare system. There are issues associated with the journey itself and I hope to be able to share with readers insights along the way, including the work that is being done by charities who work with other expectant families; professionals, and other partners in the sector. I’m keen that you can gain an understanding of the work that the various charities do in this field so that in the event that their services might be needed in the future, you know the right place to go.
Over the next sixth months I’d like to profile the work of Tommy’s, a charity that specifically funds research into pregnancy problems and provides information to parents.
I welcome you to this collection of thoughts representing our journey so far. Please help to enrich the experience by getting involved in the discussions! Be inspired, share and join me and others on this once-in-a-lifetime journey!
To read my latest blog post, click here and then bookmark the page.
