Crohn's and Colitis are Inflammatory Bowel Diseases which last a lifetime and for which there is no known cure.  They can strike at any age but most commonly begin in young people.  Around 240,000 people in the UK have these conditions and more are diagnosed each year.

Symptoms can include severe abdominal pain, exhaustion, loss of appetite, weight loss, diarrhoea, abscesses and mouth ulcers.  The impact on education, work, social and family life can be  significant.

I consider myself to be one of the lucky ones as my Crohn's is quite mild but there are thousands of people out there who endure horrible symptoms, many of which are invisible to others around them.

My aim is to raise money for Crohn's and Colitis to help support those with the disease and fund research into the causes and treatments to work towards a better life for sufferers.

Although many of you will think this triathlon is quite an easy thing for me to do, please think again.  I am a sprinter and am quite happy running short distances and taking part in explosive sports.  Triathlons are endurance events and even this "short" race will actually be quite a challenge for me.  I have had swimming lessons, have bought a bike, which Xabi is patiently teaching me how to ride properly(!!) and am working on my running fitness to make it round the run section of the race.  Not to mention getting all the advice I can on making it smoothly through transition...!

So please make a donation, no matter how small, and help me help this worthy cause.  And if you're around Stirling on the 1st June please come along and cheer me on - I think I might need it to run up that hill!!

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.  Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.