Hi,
My name is Fiona Oakes & in addition to running marathons I run Tower Hill Stables Animal Sanctuary where I look after over 400 rescued animals - see here for more information about my animal rescue work.
My sports background is actually cycling & I hold 17 UK national titles in addition to having represented Great Britian at the Barcelona Olympics in '92.
Looking after the animals made it impossible to continue to train on my bike for 5/6 hours a day, so I switched to running a few years ago.
I train about 2 hours a day, which is about the only spare time I have in looking after all the animals on a 24/7 basis! I have not had a "break" in the last 15 years.
I have run London three times, coming 30th on my first attempt & 22nd in 2006) in 2 hours 51 and 32nd this year ('09).
I came 5th in the Florence Marathon in '04 & 8th in Amsterdam in '05 (in 2 hours 49).
I came 17th in Berlin on 24th September '06 in 2 hours 56
I came 1st in the Halstead Marathon in May '07 which makes me the Essex County Champion. I took nearly 11 minutes of the course record.
I do this to demonstrate that being a Vegan is not inhibitive to performance in what is one of the toughest endurance events - at an International Standard.
It also demostrates categorically that you do not need to eat meat to be strong.
I run for the Vegan Runners club & if you want to help me get the message across, please pass this page to anyone who you think might be interested.
I would also be very grateful to anyone who wants to help through membership of the Animal Sanctuary, as the demands to take in more unwanted animals only ever increase.
You can sponsor any of the rescued animals from as little as £2 per month & as a member you can come & visit on the open days which are twice a year.
I take no income from the donations & none of the money is spent on admin or salaries - there are no staff afterall ! 100% of everything donated goes towards the monthly feed costs which stand at £5300.
See www.towerhillstables.com for more details
Thank you
