During November and December last year, out of the blue, I lost most of my hair to Alopecia Areata, an autoimmune condition that attacks the hair folicles causing partial or total hair loss. This progressed to a more advanced form at the beginning of this year, Alopecia Universalis, whereby I became totally bald and also lost my eyebrows and eyelashes.  Alopecia is very unpredictable, but I have been told there is a high chance of this being a permanent thing due to the severity and speed of the hair loss. This was a very traumatic time for myself and my family, and while I'm eternally grateful I have my health, it was life changing.  I discovered Alopecia UK during this time of being thrown into a world of decisions of wigs versus head wear and how to draw eyebrows! Alopecia UK are an amazing source of information and support at what can be a very lonely and confusing time, with still so little being understood about Alopecia, the cause of the condition, and the absence of proven successful treatments available, particularly for Alopecia Universalis. I have been very fortunate to attend a local support group, which is run by volunteers where I met others going through the same thing. They do amazing work and I want to raise money to give back to this fantastic organisation. 

I want to contribute to the invaluable work Alopcia UK do and raise awareness of alopecia by pledging to run the Bristol Half Marathon bald! This is a terrifying thought for me as my hair loss is still very raw, but I feel passionately that we need to raise awareness of the unconscious prejudice and discrimination in society associated with severe hair loss. Wigs are fantastic for blending into society, but I'd love to think that there would be a day in the future where I and others in the same boat could  enjoy the freedom of going about our daily activities bald without any double takes!

I am very much a novice runner so the Bristol half is a big challenge for me! But, I'm determined to turn my misfortune into a positive...I'm running for Alopecia UK and the stigmas that go with being different and not quite fitting in :) .