On Sunday 26th May I will be running my first ever marathon to raise money for Breast Cancer Now. Breast cancer affects thousands of women in the UK every year and although medical research has progressed massively over the last 10 years, meaning that many of these women will continue on to live normal lives, there is still no cure for secondary breast cancer. Breast Cancer Now’s goal is that by 2050, everyone with breast cancer will live.

I’ve always said I wanted to run a marathon. But it was never something I thought about seriously until my friend Tash got in touch back in December to see if I would run the Edinburgh Marathon with her to raise money for Breast Cancer Now, following the devastating news that her Mum had just been diagnosed with secondary breast cancer. Not sure if I could dedicate the time to training, I let her know that I wouldn’t be joining her. However…anyone who knows me knows I’m a sucker for saying yes! So I decided that not only would I do the marathon, but that I wouldn’t tell Tash until I surprised her in Edinburgh the day before the run. (So far this has gone to plan, with the help of her sister Omarra who is also running...and has been an absolute gem at coordinating our time down there 😊!)

Now, I like running – the small personal victory of setting a new PB for the 5k that you smashed out around the block, is enough to keep me happy. But this has been a completely different ball game. I naively went into training 6 months ago thinking it wouldn’t be that bad…but throw in a leg injury, multiple trips to the physio, sports massages, the longest runs on the hottest days of the year, losing a friend to breast cancer and not being able to share this journey with Tash… it’s genuinely been tough! And to all you crazy MF’s that do this for fun, I salute you!

Back in 2020, I was one of the thousands of women who were told they had breast cancer. And because of the treatments available, I’m still here today. Finding a cure for this horrible disease is something that really means so much to me, so now it’s my turn to give something back. Please help me in trying to raise as much money as possible – I’ll do the hard part, all you need to do is donate.

This is for all the amazing women I have met, who I’ve lost and who are currently fighting.

Thank you x