As many of you know, every now and then I decide to do a crazy challenge..... Cycle across India, Tough guy, Ironman..... Well the time has come once again to do another challenge - 100km jog with a fair bit of walking! On June 27th I start at London and go along the Grand Union canal for a really long way! 

Importantly there are 2 differences for this challenge:

1) I've enlisted support by asking 4 friends to jog in parallel with me as a relay! Each have a very different but important role! 

1^st  25km Andrea Hunt will get the party started with a steady jog, energy levels high we can try to get ahead of game

2^nd  25km Louisa Jones - when we were younger this little runner would push to the front  of any race stopping short of Olympic aspiring athletes! But after a break from races due to 2 small children time to take on her own challenge, plus keeping me going with some probably slower jogging!

3^rd  25km my sister Viv is required for some tough love talk and also embarking on her own challenge with her 1st 25km race! 

4^th 25km Tanya Jones pulled the short straw by supporting me on the 4th & final 25km, if all's gone well this section will start about 23:00 Saturday evening and she will be dragging me across the finish line about 4hrs later!! A challenge for Tanya too, as she has Alpha -1, which brings me to the 2nd difference for this challenge.

2) Raising money for charity. Normally I like doing these challenges purely to push myself, but why not take something I enjoy and do something beyond myself and raise some cash for a small and struggling charity Alpha 1 Support UK. The Alpha-1 UK Support Group is a not for profit organisation founded in 1997 by those diagnosed with the genetic condition Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency dedicated to help, advise and support fellow sufferers, their families, carers and friends.

Alpha-1 antitrypsin (A1AT) deficiency is an inherited genetic condition. It can lead to lung and, in some people, liver damage. Lung symptoms are the most common and include shortness of breath, cough and wheezing. Symptoms can worsen over time. At present, there is no cure for A1AT deficiency. Treatment aims at slowing down the progression of the disease. You probably didn’t even realise that between 1 in every 3,000 to 5,000 people in the UK have A1AT deficiency. Around 1 in 30 people carry an A1AT faulty gene. This makes A1AT deficiency one of the most common inherited conditions in the UK.

In a fortunate way, Tanya found out that she had this condition after a hospital stay with pneumonia that took over 18 months to recover from. After various chest infections she was finally diagnosed with the Alpha 1 defective gene. Early diagnosis is essential as well as steps to reduce infection and exposure to chemicals and smoke that can damage the lungs at a much faster rate than those without the disease. Many with the Alpha1 are on daily oxygen, with no cure currently available Tanya is treated with steroids and inhalers every day.

With all the above in mind, we thank you for visiting this page and very much appreciate any donation you can give. 

Helena, Andrea, Louisa, Viv & Tanya