As many of you know, I took part in the Brathay 10in10 in May 2025. I trained well, and worked hard on my fundraising. I went into the event feeling confident.

Everything was going very well until around 20 miles into day 4 when I started to suffer some discomfort. The motion of lifting my right leg felt harder, and I started to feel discomfort in my right hip. I was unable to run properly so I decided to walk the remaining 4 miles back to Brathay Hall, finishing day 4.

Unfortunately, the discomfort worsened and I spent day 5 of the challenge between Kendal and Lancaster hospitals. At first, the specialists suspected that I had torn the cartilage in my hip and sent me away on crutches to wait for an MRI scan back at home. The wait was going to be weeks, if not months, so I paid for a private scan, and I am very glad I did. It turns out I had a femoral neck fracture. Basically, I broke my hip!

After staying at Brathay to support the rest of the team through to day 10, I spent the summer on 2 crutches, resting, healing and recovering. This was a challenge with an active 8 year old boy! In the mean time I did whatever exercise I was allowed to do to maintain some strength, which was minimal at first. I did seated strength work, used an arm bike and eventually progressed to a spin bike.

On Wednesday 17th September I received the news that my follow up scan was clear and the fracture had healed. So, on Thursday 18th September, I went for my very first run back. I started small, with walking warm ups and just 8 x 1 minute of running. I've worked hard since then, following a very steady build up of running time, and incorporating many single leg strength exercises to support my training.

I have now been able to run marathon distance again, completing the full Brathay course in January 2026. I have now completed an official marathon event in Manchester, and will be running at least 3 more marathon events in the build up to 10in10 in May 2026.

My Brathay story isn't over yet. I know I'm capable of finishing it, and I'm going back to do just that. This year's event starts on 1st May and I will be on the start line, stronger than ever.

It does mean that I have another opportunity to raise more funds for a brilliant charity, the Brathay Trust. I witnessed first hand the fantastic work they do and it is genuinely life changing. So if you're able to spare a few quid, please chuck it in my fundraising pot and help my journey to the start line in May.

Thank you so much 💙

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