As my 50th birthday gets closer, I’ve found myself thinking differently about how I want to mark it.

I may celebrate with a party, or I may not. But I’ve realised that reaching 50 feels less about having a big or fancy celebration and more about doing something that feels meaningful to me.

It’s made me reflect on what really matters — life, health, family, memories, community, and having the opportunity to give something back.

I wanted this milestone to have a greater sense of purpose.

So back in February, I made a decision that was completely outside my comfort zone:

I signed up for my first half marathon. 🏃‍♀️💜

And when I say I wasn’t a runner, I really mean it.

I had never run in my life.

When I first started, even running for a couple of minutes felt difficult. I would quickly become breathless, stop, walk, recover… and then try again. 😅

There were no years of running behind me and certainly no natural ability to casually knock out 10 km!

I was genuinely starting from the beginning.

But little by little, those couple of breathless minutes became longer. I learned that walking wasn’t failing. I could run, walk when I needed to, catch my breath and start again.

And slowly, the kilometres began to add up.

On 11 October 2026, I’ll be taking on the Oxford Half Marathon — 21.1 km (13.1 miles) — and raising money for Alzheimer’s Society.

What I didn’t realise when I signed up was just how much of a journey getting to that start line would become.

A couple of months ago, my training was suddenly interrupted when I developed a superficial blood clot. I had to stop running for a while, recover, and then gradually find my way back.

I worried that I had lost too much training time. I wondered whether I would ever be ready.

And between running my spa, looking after clients, supporting my team and everyday family life, sometimes simply finding the time and energy to train has been a challenge in itself! 😅

But I kept coming back.

A few kilometres became 5 km.

Then 11 km.

Then 13 km.

And on 26 September, after being awake since 5am and originally hoping simply to manage 15–16 km, something happened that I honestly didn’t expect…

I ran 19.02 km. 🥹🏃‍♀️

For once, I felt the whole evening was mine. It felt great!

It was just me and the road.

And somewhere along those kilometres, the half marathon that had once seemed almost impossible suddenly started to feel possible.

I finished that run just 2.08 km short of the full half-marathon distance.

And I couldn’t help thinking about the woman who, only months earlier, could barely run for a couple of minutes without becoming breathless.

Why Alzheimer’s Society? 💜

As I approach 50, I’ve been thinking a lot about how precious our lives, our relationships and our memories really are.

Dementia can profoundly affect not only the person living with it, but also the families, friends and carers who travel that journey alongside them.

I wanted the challenge I had set myself to become about something bigger than my own finish line. If I was going to do something this difficult to mark my 50th, I wanted those miles to have meaning beyond me.

I originally set myself a fundraising target of £500.

But after reaching 19 km and realising just how far this journey has already taken me, I decided to challenge myself one more time:

I’m raising my target to £1,000. 💜

Every donation — whether £5, £10, £20 or more — will help support Alzheimer’s Society and its work for people affected by dementia.

And if donating isn’t possible, simply sharing my fundraising page would mean so much to me too.

On 11 October, when those final kilometres get difficult, I’ll be thinking about everyone who has encouraged me, donated, shared my page or simply told me:

“You can do this.”

I don’t know exactly what my 50th year will bring. But I do know that I want to enter it feeling grateful — and knowing that I was brave enough to try something completely new.

Because if you had told me at the beginning of this year, when a couple of minutes of running left me breathless, that before my 50th birthday I would be preparing to take on 21.1 km, I honestly would have laughed. 😅

But here I am.

And perhaps that’s one of the greatest things this journey has already given me: the reminder that we can surprise ourselves at any age.

Sometimes we don’t need to know whether we can do something before we begin.

We just need to be willing to start. 💜

50 years of life.

From a couple of breathless minutes to my first 13.1 miles.

£1,000 to try to make a difference.

Thank you for being part of it. 💜

Myrachle xx

21.1 km… I’m coming for you. 🏃‍♀️✨