Iawn? 👋 Elliott here. So, a bit about me – I’m into country music, love a cold beer, enjoy football, and recently… running! Yeah, it’s a bit of a shift, but stick with me. 👇

Now, I guess I look as 'normal' as a 'normal 28-year-old' can look. However, what most people don't know is that I, along with roughly 296,000 others in the UK, have been living with a non-visible disability for around ten years called Ulcerative Colitis. And it can be a right pain in the a*se! – literally!

Ulcerative Colitis, along with Crohn's disease, is an Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). If you had a Crohn's and Colitis dictionary, it'd be a horror show – think words like 'rectum,' 'mucus,' 'blood,' and 'stools.' You get the picture.

My UC journey started back in 2015. One day, I saw blood in the toilet and immediately started planning my funeral playlist (yep, a tad dramatic, I know). Since then, juggling daily life with flare-ups has been no picnic. The unpredictability of symptoms made social events and work commitments challenging. It often felt like I was living two lives: the one people saw and the one dominated by bathroom breaks, pain, and fatigue. Explaining to family, mates, and bosses what’s going on (when I barely understood it myself) has left me feeling pretty isolated at times. I’m also now well-acquainted with colonoscopies and flexible sigmoidoscopies (that’s "cameras up the bum" in layman's terms). 📸

But here’s the good part – I’ve recently taken up running! 🏃‍♂️ I completed my first parkrun the other week (took me 35 minutes, but hey, it’s a start!). And being the obsessive type (just ask my all-out darts setup), after running a 5k, I started researching bigger races. That’s when I found the Alton Towers 10k Run! 🎢

As a theme park lover, this was a no-brainer. Sure, it’s not the London Marathon, but I’ve never run 10k outdoors before. I’m no Hardest Geezer (look him up), so this is a biggie for me, and I’m going to give it everything I’ve got!

Why am I doing this? Well, it’s taken me about 10 years to feel comfortable enough to talk openly about having Ulcerative Colitis. Crohn’s and Colitis UK are doing incredible work with campaigns to break the silence – changing perspectives, policies, and lives. Early diagnosis and treatment are crucial. I hope to help others avoid the confusion and fear that come with an untreated condition. Left untreated, the risks of serious complications like bowel cancer, emergency surgery, or sepsis increase significantly.

So, here I am, taking on this challenge to raise awareness and funds for this cause. I want to make sure others don’t have to face the same struggles alone. Every bit of support helps, whether it’s spreading the word or donating to Crohn’s and Colitis UK. Your contribution can make a real difference in improving lives and finding a cure. Any support you can throw my way would be absolutely fab. 🙏

Cheers 🍻