I'm sure people are bored of hearing about my eating disorder. After living with it for half of my life, I'm pretty bored of it too, and I’d much rather talk about happier things. So this is the last time I will try to fundraise for charity, so why not go out with a bang?

So, guys, this is it: I'm running a marathon. Or two. Read below... but first, about why I’m running:

The earlier you get treatment for an eating disorder, the more likely you are to respond to the treatment. The NHS centres can't offer this; increasingly, only the most severe patients are able to access NHS support. 1 in 5 people with eating disorders go on to die due to their illness. Pip's Place wants to prevent that by having an open-access centre for individuals in the North West to access support, regardless of their BMI or age or, sadly, even just how clued up their GP is. 

Please help me to support the McManus family in building Pip's Place in memory of their daughter and to help the thousands of individuals who will benefit from this centre. All proceeds from my fundraising are dedicated to this centre. Every penny and pound or dollar make a difference towards that door opening.

.........

Running to raise money for an eating disorder might seem controversial to people. After all, isn't exercise one of those things that people associate with obsessive anorexics? Well, fair enough, many individuals with anorexia and bulimia do exercise obsessively. My first two years of running by choice were definitely not my choice, but something I had to do, or else the crushing guilt and shame over my meagre food intake that day was so unmanageable I couldn't focus on even the simplest of conversations. Running was hell and I only did it to get some peace.

Running now is the opposite though. At some point during university, I learned how to approach it the right way. Now, I don't run because I've eaten, but I eat - and enjoy it - because I love to run. I love a run in the rain, a run during heatwaves, solo runs and group runs, trail runs or a run around the block with the dogs. The running community helps my anxiety and depression as much as my medication does. It's just blissful sometimes; I find the steady steps soothing and feel so much more alive after I've been out in the fresh air.

However, a marathon? Well. Wow.

The night before my first half marathon, I struggled to sleep I was so nervous. How on earth am I going to do a marathon?

Apparently I'm going to have to do it particularly well, because just after I set myself the challenge to run the Edinburgh marathon, I was told I had won an entry into London.

And you don't turn down a place into the London Marathon.

So that settled it. I couldn't get a refund for Edinburgh and have arranged everything for it, so I'm doing both. And I feel... excited. And nervous. Cautiously optimistic, one might say. 

If you want to help motivate me or know someone else going through this (statistically, odds are that you do!) then please throw any spare pennies my way. Donations will be going to Anorexia Bulimia Care (ABC) and their special project, Pip's Place, that is really exciting and truly can transforms lives.