Following a successful fundraising campaign for my 50 mile ultra marathon, I have now entered (stupidly)  a 102 mile ultra trail marathon in Chester on Saturday the 13th of April 2024. I am again doing this to raise money for the National Axial Spondyloarthitis Society (NASS). 

As part of training for this event ,on Saturday the 2nd of September 2023, I will be also running in the Snowdon 47 mile ultra which climbs 10666 foot. 

Thankyou to everyone that has donated so far, I know times are hard right now so even sharing the page and spreading awareness of AS is a win for me! 

NASS is  a charity close to my heart after being diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) in March 2021. AS is a form of inflammatory Arthritis which mainly affects the spine. It is a life-long condition causing extreme debilitating pain, severe fatigue and in some cases can lead to individual bones in your spine fusing together, an increased risk of spinal fractures, osteoporosis and other long term complications. 

Alongside immunosuppressive treatment,  exercise is said to be the single most important thing that you can do to prevent the disease from progressing (which… ironically suits me perfectly). AS affects 1 in 200 individuals in the UK and 59% of those experience mental health problems in line with this. 

The current average delay to diagnosis from when symptoms start is 8.5 years due to similarities in symptoms, by which irreversible damage to the spine may have occurred. By donating to this charity we have the opportunity to reduce this delay and spread more awareness of this rare condition. 

Thankyou, 

Josh.