I gave up smoking two years ago and decided it was time to get fit and healthy again.  I took up running to achieve this and whilst looking through a running mag I came across an article on triathlons.  I decided to give triathlon a go despite not having swum properly since I was at school.  I entered a local sprint tri and was instantly hooked.  One of my mates bought me an Ironman t-shirt as a birthday present and I felt that I shouldn't wear it until I had completed an Ironman event.  This is how I manged to talk myself into competing in an event 140.6 miles long!

My sister unfortunately had to undergo a series of chemotherapy sessions as a child to treat a condition known as Neurofibromatosis with which she was diagnosed.  This meant she spent a lot of time at Great Ormond Street Hospital whilst undergoing treatment.  

I decided that I would like to raise money for the hospital as a way of saying thank you to them.