Franziska’s in the running to help make a difference

Today’s guest blog is by Franziska Dieterle, who will be tackling the London Marathon 2015 for EIA. .

Franziska Dieterle

A train ride from Wuppertal back to Münster at the beginning of winter last year proved to be quite life-changing. I didn’t have a book with me and therefore flipped through Mobil, a free magazine the German railway company provides to entertain its customers. It had a special on sustainability and the environment and, of course, EIA was part of that.

Since I had always been very interested in the CIA, I was curious to see how EIA collects intelligence to protect the environment.

Once I got home, I Googled EIA and was highly impressed by its work, especially its role in triggering the global ban on the international ivory trade (elephants are my favorite animals from childhood). Although EIA is a fairly small organisation, it makes such a great impact.

As I went through the page, I saw it was looking for a charity runner – what a coincidence! I had been running marathons since 2012 and decided it was time to apply for the position of EIA’s runner for the London Marathon 2015.

So this is how the story began. Admittedly, training has been rather tough because I finished Law School in October last year and spent most of 2014 in the library and not on the treadmill. I started marathon training on February 2 and it’s sure been an adventure!

Last week, I was visiting my boyfriend Fabian in Frankfurt and he agreed to accompany me on his bicycle for my longest run of the week – 30km, and it was a beautiful Saturday, quite sunny and warm for this time of the year in Germany. We didn’t really have a plan where to go as we started at his mum’s house and just started running through nearby villages and woods around the Main River. My boyfriend doesn’t really describe himself as the “motivational type of guy” but in the end he did an amazing job, telling me little stories about his childhood and sights in the area so my mind would be off the run (big shout to my personal water bottle assistant and pace-maker!).

All in all, preparing for a marathon is always an adventure. You set up a training plan and then laugh and cry your way through it. For the London Marathon, every time I run outside (98 per cent of the time) I look at the trees and environment around me and like to think that this race can make a difference. I have had great support from donors so far and hope to raise even more money before April 26.

A huge thank-you to the wonderfully supportive team at EIA for choosing me, some German from across the English Channel.

I am spreading the word about your wonderful work over here and I can’t wait to meet you all in person in April.

Let’s do this!