Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Just over a year ago I was diagnosed with an autoimmune condition, Sjogren's Syndrome. Over 10 years this had left me debilitated with chronic fatigue and many other physical symptoms. My level of fitness was so poor in November 2015 that I could barely walk the 1000 steps to our local gym.

Thanks to a gifted personal trainer I am slowly regaining my fitness and reclaiming my life. Whilst facing surgery for testicular cancer himself, he patiently worked with me 15mins at a time. Now I am able to walk much further, sometimes as many as 10,000 steps and I have even been able to swim outside once more. This would have been a harder struggle without this young man's professionalism.

After chemotherapy this PT is now back working. To acknowledge my gratitude I decided to set myself a challenge. Any money I raise will go towards research into the cancers which affect the men in our lives. Many of them will be quietly getting on with their lives and you may be unaware of their journeys.

As for my journey I will post the distances I walk regularly as recorded by my Jawbone device. For most of you it will seem insignificant but for many even the short distance I can manage is just impossible. I can rarely walk the 10,000 steps we are all advised to do so I have set myself a goal that pushes me but is unlikely to trigger a Sjogren's flare up. I aim to walk a marathon in 8 days. Please give generously.

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