Hi guys! Welcome to my page! 

For those that don’t know, I suffer from Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS). I have had it for a couple of years now and decided to raise money and awareness to combat this disease.

AS is a type of arthritis and it affects 200,000 people in the UK (usually young people in their 20s) and their is no cure for it.

The symptoms of AS can vary, but usually involve:

Slow or gradual onset of back pain and stiffness over weeks or months, rather than hours or days.
Early-morning stiffness and pain, wearing off or reducing during the day with exercise.
Persistence for more than 3 months (as opposed to coming on in short attacks).
Feeling better after exercise and worse after rest.
Weight loss, especially in the early stages.
Fatigue or tiredness.
Feeling feverish and experiencing night sweats.

What happens with AS?

It's a painful, progressive form of inflammatory arthritis. It mainly affects the spine but can also affect other joints, tendons and ligaments.

Other areas such as the eyes and bowel can also sometimes be involved with AS.

Inflammation occurs at the site where ligaments or tendons attach to the bone. This is known as enthesis.
The inflammation is followed by some wearing away of the bone at the site of the attachment. This is known as enthesopathy.
As the inflammation reduces, healing takes place and new bone develops. Movement becomes restricted when bone replaces the elastic tissue of ligaments or tendons.
Repetition of this inflammatory process leads to further bone formation and the individual bones which make up your backbone (vertebrae) can fuse together.

I’m aiming to raise £500 for The National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society (NASS) They specialise in research for the disease and also offer exercises and other ways to manage the symptoms. Donations of any amount would be extremely helpful :)

I’ve decided to give the Robin Hood Half Marathon another crack! Running seems to help with the symptoms of AS for me so I thought I’d give a 13 miler a go and raise a few pennies in the process :) It’s at the end of September so there’s a lot of training to do!

I’ll keep you posted on how I’m getting on and I’ll see you at the finish line!