Hi, my name is Ilan Wreschner and I’m running the 10K in the Jerusalem Marathon for Crohn’s and Colitis UK.

Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis are two forms of IBD, Irritable Bowel Disease. They can affect any part of your digestive system, the most commonly affected areas being the small and large intestines. There are 300,000 sufferers in the UK, and this figure includes both my siblings Ariella and Asher. Ariella was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease in 2015 aged 17, and Asher was diagnosed with Crohn’s 6 months later aged 12. Growing up with both my siblings being sufferers of the disease has shown me how hard life is for those with Crohn’s. They have to take medication on a daily basis, and dealing with the intense and unrelenting pain is something I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

Unfortunately, due to the complexity of the disease, there is no cure right now. This means that researchers are focusing on reducing symptoms allowing sufferers to have  periods of remission and reducing the severity of flare-ups when they occur. The team at Crohn’s and Colitis UK are working hard to find both cures and treatments but need more funding. This why I am running the 10K at the
Jerusalem marathon.

Before coming to Yeshiva the furthest I had run in my life was a 5K around Hendon Park. When I started training I ran 5K in 35 minutes (which is very slow). However, I am setting myself the ambitious physical challenge of running the 10K in under 50 minutes (which is quite fast). This will be very hard as just fitting training runs into my Yeshiva schedule has proved tough. Furthermore, the Jerusalem 10K is renowned for being one of the toughest around due to the hilly nature of the route.

I would really appreciate if you could donate any amount of money to Crohn’s and Colitis UK in order to help fund their research.

Thanks a lot,

Ilan Wreschner