Last year I didn't run a marathon as I wanted to focus on shorter races and try to improve my speed instead.  My main race for 2016 was the Brighton marathon 10k with the hope of getting a personal best.  Three days before this I had a biopsy of my breast and lymph nodes.  At this point I knew I had cancer and worse than this I thought it may have spread.  Three days later I turned up for the Brighton marathon 10k and attempted my run.  This was possibly one of the most difficult races I have done.  I spent this race not able to run at the speed or pace I wanted.  I tried to reassure myself that I had just had a biopsy and I was allowed to slow down due to the pain in my armpit.  The voice on my other shoulder kept reminding me that if I let the cancer be an excuse then, how would I fight it, if and when I got a diagnosis.  After 44 minutes (and no PB) i finished the race.  I decided after this I would run Brighton next year instead of london to be around my many friends & family in Brighton. 

The next four months were a whirlwind, I had CT scans, PETT scans, blood tests, cameras forced up my nose and into the back of my throat (that was by far the most awful part), an operation, much support from a Macmillan nurse and finally a month of radiotherapy.  Whilst having radiotherapy I became aware of the sussex cancer centre and realised I wanted to give them something back.  I am using this to raise awareness of this great charity in our city and also because I so grateful of their care.  

I was overwhelmed by the support of all my friends at work, Brighton Tri Club, Tom's Tuesday Endurance Group, My Sunday running friends and the Preston Park Parkrun community.  

I appreciate there are several charities and I have paid for my own race so there is no sponsorship agreement.  If you would like to donate to our local, wonderful charity then they would be grateful.  However there is no pressure to do so.

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.