I am so proud to be running this marathon for Bloodwise, the blood cancer charity. I am in such a privileged position where I get to work for a charity I really believe in and now I get to raise money for them. Ten years ago my beautiful cousin Charlotte died from acute biphenotypic leukaemia. When a job in my field was advertised at Bloodwise there was no way I was not getting it. I get to go into work every morning and keep the building standing for my wonderful talented colleagues who work hard everyday to make a difference to people with blood cancer, the third biggest cancer killer.

I have always liked the idea of running a marathon but never felt confident enough having never run more than 400 meters in my life or raised more than £20 as a class effort when I was 8 to buy an acre of Rainforest (actually not sure which one of the 30 of us got custody of that?)...  But since I introduced the ridiculous idea of 'scare yourselves Wednesdays ' to my life I thought why not add a marathon to the list to see what happens. Well it got to the point I was running of scare yourself Wednesdays to choose from and so I entered the ballot for the London Marathon. 

Then I remembered that I struggle running for a bus which would probably be an issue if I got a place. So I started running at lunch with my colleague who signed me up on the premise of 'don't worry it is just a cheeky 2.9 mile run you will be fine'. I managed 2 miles before having to stop outside Somerset House resisting an urgent need to vomit all over the pavement. 

 The ballot came and went and I didn't get a place but I could now run 3.5 miles without stopping so plan B was to ask lovely Fraz in the sports team for a Bloodwise place. When I say 'ask' what I actually mean was 'badger' every time he walked past reception which may have begun to border on harassment. When he managed to get me a place I felt like I had won the lottery, I couldn't stop smiling! The next day I woke up and felt more like I had just won 1p on Deal or No Deal and I was never going to get back the hour of my life I had just spent standing next to Noel Edmund's. ...26.2 miles is much longer than 3.5 miles.

Thankfully there was been a lot of help at hand! I have genuinely never worked in an office with such lovely and supportive people, a number of which have doubled up as running partners and kept me going when I wanted to crumble in a heap and give up. Because of these lovelies I am now running 19 miles which is something I would not have thought possible 9 months ago.

Charlotte had the most wonderful attitude and determination and I try and take this with me to the office everyday. Bloodwise is making a huge difference to people with blood cancer and I see first hand how hard all my colleagues work to make sure this important research and support continues.

Please help me smash my target to bits. You really will be making a difference. 

  https://bloodwise.org.uk    

Thank you so much , Gill xxxx