Hello

Now most of you will know that – Jen’s not a natural runner!!! But for some strange reason my dear little sister suggested I try it, and after much panting round the block I began to actually enjoy running which was a complete novelty to me!  I took it one step further and joined a local running club in a vague hope I might get better.  I have to say, the results aren’t that astounding but I can now run and talk and have met some great people through the club (Amy - I miss you running food buddy – see pic on this page).  So after over a year of running, I got the running bug and signed up for the Robin Hood Half Marathon in Nottingham on Sunday 13^th September.  Well it’s certainly a challenge, but all in the name of charity, so why not give it a go?...

Now that same little sister (Suzie – see pic on this page) actually has Crohn’s Disease, a chronic ongoing condition, which is a form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) that affects about 1 in 400 people in the UK.  Since being diagnosed in 2005, Suzie’s health has been significantly up and down, with regular visits to the hospital for treatment, a lifetime of daily medication to take, plus add quite horrid side effects.  When having a serious bout of the illness, Suzie has been unable to work or carry out a normal day as you & I ordinarily would, which is not much fun.  As a result of this, Suzie made some serious ‘life style’ decisions which included a move from London back to her home town of Nottingham and a career change (she worked in PR and has since decided to re-train in beauty therapy).  For the past four years the organisation The National Association for Colitis and Crohn's Disease(NACC) has been a tremendous support to Suzie, helping her understanding her condition and giving  health advice, guiding her on how’s best to complete complicated benefit forms and most recently contributed towards funding her college course fees to re-train.    So with that in mind, it seems apt that I support the charity when running (plodding) my way around the 13mile course as they have done my sister!

I would greatly appreciate your sponsorship to run the Robin Hood Half Marathon with all monies raised going to NACC, directly helping other people with Crohn’s Disease like Suzie.  I hate to ask for money, but I hope you’ll agree it’s one of many worthy causes.  Please feel free to sponsor as much or as little as you like, every penny counts.

Now if you’re up and about and in Nottingham on the day of the race – I would love to see some friendly faces on route, especially past the 8mile mark.  Do drop me an email or give me a call to let me know where you might be on the course, so I’ll know to look out for you.

Many thanks in advance for any sponsorship/support you might give.  

Best wishes...The happy runner JEN X

For more information on NACC please visit  www.nacc.org.uk