Like hundreds of thousands of people, I entered the ballot for the London Marathon and didn't get in. Instead, I decided to enter the adidas Manchester Marathon | UK's 2nd Largest | Flat & Friendly
... then I saw that the Home - Zurich Rock ‘n’ Roll Running Series Madrid (rocknrollmadridrun.com) Marathon was running on the same day as the London Marathon. So, I thought rather than sitting at home and feeling sorry for myself about not getting in the London Marathon, I'd just enter the Madrid one.

Now I'm running the Manchester Marathon on 16th April 2023, then on the following weekend I'll be running the Madrid Marathon on 23rd April 2023. More likely than not, I'll probably end up running the Unleashed Performance Reading Half Marathon on 2nd April 2023 as well, so, that's my April! What the f*** am I doing to myself?!

Whilst punishing myself for some ungodly reason, I have also decided to raise money for Fertility Network UK in the process. As you may or may not know, soon after Katherine and I got married in 2017, we decided to try for a baby. After a year of trying, in 2019 we sought fertility advice. Katherine had her tests, and I had mine...

My test results... well... let's say the count wasn't high. In fact, there wasn't anything to count. Finding this out was devastating for both of us. What proceeded was a series of consultation visits with fertility staff and consultants.

The conclusion was drawn that I needed to have a Surgical Sperm Retrieval (SSR) procedure. Sadly, the outcome of the procedure only confirmed the original test results, in that there is no count. On the plus side, they also performed a biopsy which came back negative - so at least that was a plus.

Thankfully, two years on from the procedure, Katherine and I (and our dog, Gasly) are as strong as ever and in a better place mentally. However, there may be individuals or couples out there that are struggling in the same way that we were over that two-year period. Particularly for men, where as far as I can tell, there is minimal support or advice for men with fertility issues.

Recently, I searched online to see if support had improved in this area and found HIMfertility | Fertility Network (fertilitynetworkuk.org). Seeing the aims and objectives of this charity drew me on a personal level and made me want to support where I can. Not so much to raise money (but still please donate!), but more to raise awareness because men just don't talk about this stuff.

On a separate but related note. If anyone reading this is going through similar things to what I've described above for Katherine and I - please feel free to reach out to me if you wish to talk.

Thanks everyone and hopefully I'll live to see May 2023!