Hello fellow humans, 

I'm writing this one year since my breast cancer diagnosis, so I thought it was a pretty meaningful time to officially commit to running a half marathon and ask for your help by sponsoring me, in order to raise money for a charity that has helped myself and thousands of other young women when given a life altering diagnosis.

I am running the Royal Parks Half Marathon on October 8th for Breast Cancer Now! 

Pre-diagnosis, health and fitness was a pretty big passion of mine, so to be told I had invasive breast cancer last July, felt like a pretty unimaginable and brutal stroke of fate.

When I was able to run again, it was and has been pretty much the only thing that has given me any sense of control over my body since the diagnosis. After my operation and lymph removal I couldn’t even walk around my local park, let alone run.

Training for something to get my fitness back and to raise funds for a charity that made me feel less alone, less scared and less confused in the early days of my diagnosis, feels very important and worthwhile. I hope that there will always be this support, so that when the next young woman gets told she has breast cancer, she has somewhere to go for information and support.

Breast Cancer Now was the first charity I found in those early weeks, that did specific, dedicated events for young women diagnosed with breast cancer. 

Around a month after my diagnosis, I was in a room with about 20 other young women in their 20s-30s. Some had finished treatment, some mid-way through radiotherapy or chemotherapy, some had dealt with mastectomies in their 20s, some still struggling with the ongoing side-effects of a chemical/surgical menopause and fertility treatments, and some like me, with it all in front of us. I was finally having conversations and having questions answered, that I so desperately wanted to have from the moment I was told I had invasive breast cancer. 

It was the first time since my diagnosis I felt understood and not like an alien in my own body. Being around those young women and Breast Cancer Now nurses/volunteers was truly priceless.

One of the real kickers with being diagnosed so young, probably means you won’t know anyone else your age going through it and will quickly discover why getting diagnosed young is totally different diagnosis to being diagnosed when you’re older, short term and long term.

I remember trying to make my mum laugh before that fateful appointment and being aware of how old and serious the rest of the waiting room seemed; full of women 50 + waiting for their routine triennial mammograms, so it never crossed by mind that I was about to be told that I had invasive breast cancer. Like, that just doesn't happen to someone who's wearing ripped jeans and guessing which doctor would appear from behind the door like some silly game show. 

After my operation and fertility preservation, I spent HOURS sat in the waiting room at Guys’s cancer radiotherapy unit, surrounded by men and women who were 60 plus. I did not see a single other person under the age of 50. Most days I was surrounded by men in their 70s. What was I doing there? 

I was pretty angry and lonely at that stage of my treatment, feeling unbelievably isolated. So, had it not been for that initial event and other webinars that Breast Cancer Now had organised for young women, I’m not sure I could have handled those weeks of treatment by myself at all. Thank god for covid masks...very handy for incognito and stealth crying!

So, it would mean the world to me if you could donate even the smallest amount to sponsor me, so that I can raise funds for a charity that not only supports those effected by it, but also a charity that researches into new breast cancer treatments and cures...

Many diagnosed with hormone receptive breast cancers are prescribed hormone therapy to stop the cancer from returning. Although life saving, endocrine treatment has some pretty unfair and unpleasant short and long term side effects that women are forced to live with after cancer diagnosis. Most young women are told to take it for at least 10 years, which without going into the gory details means you are chemically in the menopause at a very early age, hugely effecting your body, mental health, bone health, fertility, and your relationships. Not a desirable card to be dealt in your 20s and 30s hey…

Your hormones tend to be more aggressive the younger you are, so for a lot of young women, there’s no escaping the hormone treatment due to the higher chance of cancer reoccurrence. Finding out this part of my treatment was actually the most devastating and still something I am still struggling to accept. 

Therefore, I am running the Royal Parks Half for Breast Cancer Now, so that one day, in the near future, I may be able to stop taking the hormone treatment, in prayers that there will be something new on the drug market that doesn’t force young women to choose between a cancer reoccurrence and overall quality of life!

I am running for all the other young women who would like to feel young again, unburdened by the constant daily fear of reoccurrence and out of appreciation for how resilient the human body is, no matter what physical challenges fate throws in your way.

Rachel xxx