What am I doing?

This year I have managed to get a 'good for age' place at the London Marathon.  So whilst I run around the merry streets of London town on the 23rd April, I would like to raise money for 3 wonderful charities, one of which is the British Heart Foundation (BHF).  As well as this, on the weekend of 10-11th June, along with some lovely Haslemere Border AC team mates, I will also be taking part at Endure 24 Reading. Endure 24, is a 24 hour trail race, where your team try and complete as many 5 mile laps as they can in 24 hours!

Why am I doing it?

Issues with the heart, have been quite prevalent in our family, from my nan, my aunt, my nephew and also my son.

In 2012, when my son was 6 weeks old, he was diagnosed with two holes in his heart, an ASD (Atrial Septal Defect), as well as a VSD (Ventricular Septal Defect), actually one of the more common defects.  Luckily, before he had even reached his first birthday, his ASD had closed by itself.  However, his VSD still remains to this day; and he is fortunate to be monitored by his consultant at the hospital every year or so, to ensure all is well.  He plays football, he loves running around, he never stops moving, you wouldn't even be able to tell he had it!

In 2017, my youngest nephew, Archie was born.  My sister and her husband knew beforehand that Archie, had a serious heart condition, through the various scans that they had during the pregnancy.  Archie was born with a serious heart condition called Tetrology of Fallot, which is a combination of 4 congenital heart defects.  The four defects are a ventricular septal defect (VSD), pulmonary stenosis, a misplaced aorta and a thickened right ventricular wall (right ventricular hypertrophy). When he was only 6 months old, he had open heart surgery to help correct his condition.  Again, he is regularly monitored by the wonderful NHS consultants in London, to ensure that everything is going well and this will need to continue  throughout his life.

More recently, in 2021, we lost my Auntie Christine, who was only in her 60's,  to heart disease, totally unexpectedly.  Leaving a gaping hole for my cousins, my nan, my mum, my uncle and for the entire family.  

So, I would very much like to raise some money to support the BHF. This money will help them to invest in research into heart disease, so that new treatments can be developed, and new cures can be made; so that we can reduce the number of people that die as a result of  heart and circulatory diseases in the UK.  Even raising £24 would pay for 2 hours of research by an early career scientist!

I would be ever so grateful for your support, no matter how big or small.  As every beat of our heart counts, so does every penny and every pound.

Thank you so much for visiting my page,

Tania x