On the 22nd of April 2018 I will be running the London Marathon for a charity that has directly affected the lives of my family. 

In her early 30's - with 3 children under the age of 5 - my wonderful mum was diagnosed with Bowel Cancer. She was fortunate that through her early detection and the incredible medical teams at the Balfour Hospital in Orkney, Scotland she fought and survived the disease. 

Through medical advances in this area, my sister, brother and myself where all tested to see if we had inherited the 'bad' gene that carried the cancer - and I am delighted to say that all 3 of us are clear! However some families are not as lucky and if a bad gene is detected, the carrier can be given closer monitoring to pick up anything suspicious as early as possible. 

This charity not only does amazing work in bowel cancer advances but also with all bowel related defects - this is something that I have suffered with since my teenage years. A bit of a 'taboo' or 'pooey' subject but one that affects so many people and I would love to help raise awareness of this in some small way. 

As some of you may know, I ran the London Marathon last year when ignorance was bliss... this year I know what's coming for me and it's pretty horrible! 

All donations however big or small will be a huge help to Bowel & Cancer Research and will also keep me going on marathon day!

Thank you all so much for your support. 

Julia x