My Mum is the inspiration for me running the London Landmarks Half Marathon. 

She went through a dreadful four years where she was clearly really unwell but she didn’t know why.  We watched her lose a whole load of weight, have a seriously decreased capacity to manage the things she did day to day and become depressed due to the effect it was having on her.  Finally she was diagnosed with CFS/ME in 2013 which has had a profound effect on her quality of life.  She had to give up her degree course and restrict many aspects of her life.

One thing I will say is my Mum is great at managing her condition through resting and pacing herself she has learnt to manage the fatigue and delayed exhaustion.  By removing chemicals from her home and the foods from her diet she can now take short walks, go on small shopping trips and socialise although this is still very limited.

She moved to the coast in an attempt to help her health and although this has had a positive effect,  she left behind her social network and having limited energy means getting out and meeting new people or joining in activities is difficult.

So in short this is why I want to run, but it was also due to the fact that hardly any money goes into future research for ME and I want to help in this respect. It seems to be a little known and misunderstood condition that seems to result in it being quite low down the list for NHS funding.

So what better way to help than to run, which I enjoy whilst raising a good amount of money that can be put to good use to help more people who are suffering like my Mum has.