A year ago, I was just coming through a winter of severe vestibular migraine that made me retreat to bed on several days a week. For months I was unable to run at all. Now, one year later, I will attempt to run a 27.9 mile coastal marathon. Given that it goes through dunes & across beaches, & I have a willing heart but short legs, this will probably equal about 7 hours of running.

Vestibular dysfunction means living with a wide-ranging array of symptoms including fatigue, brain-fog, dizziness, vertigo, blurred vision, impaired balance, spatial confusion, anxiety, & episodes of intense head pain. I've been slow to tell anyone about the marathon because it's hard to feel confident of making promises to meet expectations on any given day. At the moment I have many more good days than bad, but it's still true that one day I can feel as fit as I've ever been & the next day can barely get out of bed if full-on migraine strikes. So I really don't know if I will complete the course on the day. But if I don't manage it on the official race day my aim is to keep going back until I have a day when I am well enough to run it. All of it. Although, I'm not even sure it's completing it that matters - the 77 training runs I have done so far have been as much of a challenge as the race itself will be given the fluctuating symptoms I deal with on a daily basis. 

Over a nine year period since I first got ill, I estimate I have spent over £20K on treatment in addition to that which I received through the NHS. At the moment NHS treatment is a postcode lottery & most areas are seriously under-resourced & simply don't have the necessary services to help people. It horrifies me that there are people out there who may never be able to recover to the level I have because they simply won't have access to the necessary help. By competing in as many events as it takes, my long-term goal is raise £20k (the same amount of money that I have spent on my recovery) to help other people in the same position as me. This is even more critical now that evidence is emerging that Covid leaves a significant percentage of people with vestibular & neurological damage like mine - there will be many, many more people needing help in the coming months & years. The National Brain Appeal raises money that goes to the hospital that has looked after me for nearly a decade, & also goes towards research including a newly-funded project investigating Long Covid.

I'd love you to help me get closer to realising my £20k fundraising dream by donating if you can, or sharing this appeal. Also, if you're someone that believes in prayer then please feel free to join me in the hope for low-tide-firm-sands, no head wind, no migraine or PMT, & a complete absence of badly-timed toilet breaks..(!) If these factors all come together - you never know - I might just be in with a fighting chance of completing the route..

Dealing with life-altering neurological conditions can feel like a lonely, solo endeavour but it never is - I would have gone under a long time ago without the support & love of my amazing family & friends. Which is why I'm super happy that I've roped an entire team of people into this run. At the event alongside me will be Anna & Nick (10km); Mike & Matthew (Half Marathon); Freddie (Marathon); Ruth & Val (logistics & team support). Nothing makes me happier than the idea that we will all be out there together on the Northumberland beaches that I love so dearly. Life-altering illness is a rollercoaster & there is a lot of grieving for everything that I can't or don't have in my life because of it. But all of that is always swept away in a flood-tide of gratitude the moment I get my trainers on & remember that despite it all I am lucky enough to be able to be out moving & breathing, alive under the wide Northumbrian skies. 

Thanks for your interest & your support, Love Kate x

[ Find out more about the fantastic Endurance  Life Northumberland Coastal Marathon here: https://www.endurancelife.com/northumberland ]

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