In October 2021 I ran an unofficial half marathon along Southend Seafront after an extremely difficult year. At the beginning of 2021, I could only run a couple of km. It was a single goal I had, when I felt I had no direction or purpose.

My mum was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer just before Christmas 2020 and passed away early July at 58. Caring for her was a privilege during very uncertain and difficult times during a lockdown. Hospices were one of the ways you could be with your loved one when they passed during that period and the alternative was at home. (Hospital was restricted). Unfortunately a hospice space was not an option for us as there was not a bed available, though we did have some support. It felt very uncertain what was going to happen and it was incredibly stressful. The work Havens does is wonderful and it is only possible with support from donations.

Running was one of the only things I did for myself during that time as I had become quite unhealthy through the stress of caring, grieving, a divorce, moving home through a global pandemic. I committed to that goal of half Marathon after her passing and have since ran the Alton Towers half in 2022 and Thorpe Park and Alton Towers 10k in 2023. My goal is to complete this race without walking (my pb without walking is 16k!) and to beat my personal best of 2 hours and 46 minutes.