First of all I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my page. I have decided to take on the Bath Half Marathon on 4th March 2018 in memory of an amazing young lady called Carol Blackman. The reason for choosing Bath Half is that it was Carol's favourite place in the UK.

Carol was diagnosed with Crohn’s at just 14 years old and by the age of 19 she had to have a stoma bag - a very hard thing for any young lady to go through but while going through all of this Carol managed to still give her time to St John's Ambulance to help others in her own selfless way. At the age of 28 Carol met Jason, her soul mate and her only real true love. Two years later she married Jason. What a wedding, I was lucky enough to be there. Apart from a few hospital visits for Crohn’s related reasons all was good. Carol and Jason had some amazing holidays and life was good.

But in 2013 after what should have been a routine hernia operation Carol encountered serious issues and complications with her stoma which led to Carol having to have 40 plus major operations in an 11-month period. Once Carol returned home she also started to develop other medical issues including respiratory and kidney problems which meant Carol spent much of her recent years in hospital, always supported by Jason and her mum. On 9th March 2017 Carol was told she would not be going home as she now had total kidney failure and respiratory failure, and that she had approximately three weeks to live - but even then Carol took it on the chin with a smile and proceeded to plan what she wanted to happen. Sadly Carol lost her fight for life on Friday 31st March 2017 with her husband Jason, her mother Veronica and her brother Richard by her side.

Carol was only 40 years old and a truly amazing and inspirational person.

Crohn’s and Colitis UK is a national charity in the battle against Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. We are fighting to achieve a better quality of life for the 300,000 people in the UK suffering physically and emotionally from these and other forms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Ultimately, we want to find a cure.