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I have decided to do something completely out of my comfort zone and run a marathon on 4th December. All money raised will go to Multiple Sclerosis Society UK. Please see below to see why;

This is a very personal cause to me and not something I often speak about. Back in February 2016, I started suffering from dizziness which was only relieved if I lied down. Instead of worrying about it, I slept through it and carried on as normal. As the days went past, I started to notice a lack of strength down my left side. Conditions quickly deteriorated over the course of 2 weeks to the point where the left side of my face drooped, I couldn't curl my toes on my left foot, I couldn't even turn my left hand over when resting on a flat surface. After multiple tests, scans and a weeks stay in hospital receiving medicinal steroids to help, I was diagnosed with highly active relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis. It was a scary time in my life and I will never forget the moment they told me that they suspected MS and it felt like my world had crumbled away around me. I would not let it hold me back though...

So, here I am, committing to running the Valencia marathon in December. Before my diagnosis, I wouldn't go for a gentle jog, never mind a marathon!

I originally decided to run in Winterthur, rather than London, as I would like any money that is kindly donated to go directly to the charity with no hidden costs. I unfortunately found, when researching the London marathon, that the charity has to directly contribute for your participation, which I don't think is fair. The Winterthur marathon is an event that is organised by passionate runners in their free time.
Unfortunately, due to COVID restrictions, I was unable to do this so have now signed up to Valencia. Whilst not organised by runners in their free time, I've covered all of my entry costs to ensure all money raised goes to this worthy cause.

As I said, this is not something that I ever dreamed of doing before my diagnosis, but now I'm pushing myself harder than ever. I'm not suggesting that I'm going to be aiming for some sort of sub-3 hour time, but I will push myself as hard as possible and all support that is given will help give me that extra little push when I think there is nothing left.

The fact that I can attempt to run in the first place, without some sort of physical condition afflicting me to the point where I can't even start, is all due to the time and research invested by the MS Society to discover treatments, like the treatments that I have had, in the first place.

Multiple sclerosis is a lifelong condition which affects your brain and spinal cord. With MS, the coating that protects your nerves is damaged. At the moment, there is no specific cause associated with MS, but there are around 100,000 people in the UK living with it. MS affects everyone differently. For some, it is characterised by periods of relapse and remission, while for others, it's a progressive pattern. For everyone with MS, it makes life very unpredictable.

There is currently no cure for MS but there are a number of treatments that can help. I do believe that a cure can be found and that your kind donations make this possible. The MS Society UK depends entirely on charitable fundraising and on the support of the public and volunteers.

Any donation given helps us get closer to stopping MS.