Hi there and thank you for visiting my fundraising page. Please dig deep and sponsor me online.

You may not know but my little girl was born with only one healthy kidney. Where the other one should be is a mass of cysts and very little kidney tissue. She has to have medication every day for the forseeable future and she will have to undergo some tests at hospital here in Northampton and at a specialist unit in Leicester. Some of these tests are quite invasive and I would not want them done to me. I am doing the London marathon to raise money for Kidney Research UK so they can develop treatments for people with kidney problems and to raise awareness about it.

The kidneys are vital life-sustaining organs. Their main job is to cleanse the blood of toxins and transform the waste into urine. Each kidney is about 10-15 cms long, weighs about 160gms and gets rid of between one and one and a half litres of urine per day. The two kidneys together filter 200 litres of fluid every 24 hours. When a kidney is not working properly, harmful waste like salts and fluids build up in the body. These cause high blood pressure and the symptoms of kidney failure. Kidney disease is not, as commonly thought, a disease that affects only the elderly - it can happen at any age.

So, I've got myself a place running the London Marathon in support of Kidney Research. That sets me up with two challenges. I have pledged to raise £2000 for charity and had better start getting some running in seeing as I have not done any since I was 12 and I am now 29!!.

For those of you who know me well you'll know I'm not the most "naturally gifted" athlete so this marathon will be a real challenge. Please visit my website at www.run4katie.org for more information. So please sponsor me now!

Many thanks for your support and for anyone wishing to come down to London on the 23rd of April and point and laugh at me feel free. I will be wearing a pair of fairy wings and a purple and pink tutu (as well as running shorts and a tshirt!)

 Love Sarah & Katie xxx

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