In 2018, I attended a heart screening at school and completely out of the blue, this led to me being diagnosed with Left-Ventricular Non-Compaction Cardiomyopathy. At the time I was competitively racing triathlons and when I was diagnosed I was told I would never be able to race again, and that any exercise I did from now on would be very limited. Later that year I was also implanted with a defibrillator. Since then, my Dad has been diagnosed as having exactly the same thing and the genetic mutation known to cause it has been found in both of my younger sisters.  

The diagnosis came as a huge shock to all of us and was difficult to deal with, especially given how little is known about what it could mean and the extreme caution that brought.

I attended a Cardiomyopathy UK conference about living with similar conditions and that was where I met a Doctor who was able to slowly bring me back to a reasonable level of exercise. The benefits this has brought for me are massive and although it may never go back to normal, it has allowed me to cope with the condition much better.

The work Cardiomyopathy UK do in organising events like this and raising awareness for the disease are a lifeline for many people. Any donations are really appreciated. I hope that by running this race it helps show that being diagnosed with one of these conditions is not the end of your life, it can go on and it can be normal.

Thank you very much for reading this and any donations x