In 2018 I turn the same age as my mother when she passed away. My family have always told me that I look and behave like her and sometimes I wonder if my life will be as short as hers, too. She was an amazing woman, and if I want to be anything like her then I’m going to make sure I don’t waste any time and go out there and make her proud.

In Germany, 1998, I was watching TV when I felt a sudden pain in my heart. I told my husband that I wanted to ring home to Pakistan and talk to my mum. But because of the time difference, it was very late over there so we decided to ring in the morning. At 5am, the dreaded call came from my brother, informing us that my mum passed away in the middle of the night. It was the same time I had felt the pain in my heart. I wasn’t able to attend her funeral to say goodbye, so it felt like I let her down. However, every cloud has a silver lining. To make it up to her, in 2018 I am taking on my biggest challenge yet and running 10 races in 10 months (5 half marathons and 5 10ks)! Insha’Allah (God willing).

My races that I’m doing in 2018:

25 Feb: East Midlands 10k

18 March: Coventry Half Marathon

29 April: Leicester’s Big 10k

6 May: Birmingham 10k

13 May: Shakespeare’s Half Marathon 

8 July:  Leeds 10k

9 September: GNR Half Marathon 

30 September: Robin Hood Half Marathon

14 October: Birmingham Half Marathon

28 October: Bradford 10k

For my #TenRacesInTenMonths challenge I decided to raise £10000 altogether to have water wells built in my late mother’s memory.

These deep water wells will give families reliable access to clean water which will allow them to drink, wash, grow crops and water their animals safely. Hopefully, I will reach my target and young girls in Gambia won’t have to spend hours fetching water each day - freeing up time to go to school and look after their families. I hope her wells will bring as much happiness to people in Gambia as my mum did to my life. 

Please donate generously and let’s build these wells  together! 💪🏻