Kitty's chance to B-eat the London Marathon
Kitty Birks is raising money for Beat
Story
As some people may be aware I battled an eating disorder for 7 years, this was of course a terrible time not only for me but for my gorgeous family too. However I found that through it all the understanding of what an eating disorder was and how to deal with it was alien and the amount of information out there was minimal. Even today its a subject that most people find hard to talk about and there is an element of shame or embarrassment around them. Well I think it is about time that changed, don't you?
So when the London Marathon 2018 ballot opened I decided to enter myself in and cross every limb possible in the hope that I would get a place. Well all that crossing seemed to work and a beautiful envelope arrived informing me that I was lucky enough to be accepted. With my place I will be running for Beat, a charity whose main aim is to support anyone affected by eating disorders. They provide critical information about what they are, how to spot them and how to deal with them. In addition they offer support services, helplines and recovery advice. What I really love about the charity is that it helps those affected both directly and indirectly. For me personally I found that living with an eating disorder completely took over my life, it was extremely challenging and hands down the hardest thing I've ever had to overcome. However it wasn't until I was in recovery that I realised the affect that it had on my family too, it pushed them to their limits and put them through a world of pain. I know that if it wasn't for them I wouldn't have been able to get through the extremely bleak times, face the many twist and turns and ultimately I have them to thank for still being here today. Therefore I think its important to highlight the fact that there is no one face to an eating disorder and its great that the charity does this.
Of course I would love to raise as much money as possible for B-eat but it would also be great to change the stigmas attached to eating disorders, to get people talking and to make people less afraid of sharing their own stories. So even if you can't donate, please take the time to look at Beats website, incase you can help someone else.
So on the day of the marathon I want to run with as many names as possible written on my body - I basically want to end up looking like a human doodle. The idea being that each name will represent someone who has been affected by an eating disorder, whether that be directly or indirectly. Therefore if you would like a name to be written on me, please get in touch, I would love to take as many people as possible over that finish line with me!