In 2010 and 2011 you helped me raise over £2000 for Cancer Research UK, a magnificent amount. This time, lets try and do that in 1 year, but this time for NASS!

In 2015, we're stepping it up a notch from the 2011 enduro tour.
14/6: Ironman 70.3 Staffordshire 
19/7: Ironman UK (2.4mile swim, 112mile bike, 26.2mile run)
24/10: Snowdonia Marathon
14/11: Beacons Ultra Marathon (46ish miles)

Why the 4 year break you wonder? Well...
I've spent most of the last 11 years actually struggling to walk, let alone run. I was told by doctors it was nothing and I would grow out of it. After 7 years (2011), it seemed to have sorted itself out....
Apart from 4 weeks after the cardiff half, this mysterious pain had returned. Apart from it was so bad, I could barely walk. And that was the state I was in for the rest of 2011, all of 2012, 2013, and half of 2014.

It turns out I have in fact been suffering from Ankylosing Spondylitis since age 12. I'm now 23, and after being diagnosed last year, have finally started medication that is allowing me to resemble some sort of life again.
So what is ankylosing spondylitis? In short, a form of rheumatoid Arthritis that attacks my spine and pelvis, causing them to get inflamed, and over time, fuse together. 

The problem is, it took 10.5 years to get diagnosed.
In those 10.5 years I have had to endure agony like nothing else I have experienced. When you are in so much pain you can't even walk to the toilet, things get pretty sh*t.
Inevitably, this led to stronger and stronger painkillers, years of depression, and an overdose, as I lived in excruciating pain, being told there was nowt wrong with me.

NASS are there to push awareness, provide support, advice and information to people with AS. We should not be waiting on average 8-11 years to be diagnosed. We know we will never be cured with this disease, but we have the options to make life liveable with it.

I realise this doesn't have the fatality, or the horror of diseases like Cancer, MND, heart disease and more.
But it shouldn't go unnoticed.

I've got my life back thanks to good medication and wonderful support from the rheumatology department here in South Wales.
But 12 months ago I was close to ending it all.
That is the level of pain this disease caused me, and causes to so many others.

An Ultra, and Ironman, a half, and a marathon, with ankylosing spondylitis, surely that's worth a few quid?

To all those who support this effort, your generosity will be ringing in my ears for all 17 hours of Ironman UK!