I am proud to say I am running The Big Half on September 1st for Child Health International (CHI), a charity that seeks to achieve equality of treatment globally for those living with Cystic Fibrosis. In the UK the prospects of those living with CF has greatly improved over the last decade thanks to the fundraising and research carried out by countless individuals across the country, with the relatively new drug Kaftrio being nothing sort of lifechanging for many individuals. Unfortunately those in other countries do not have access to the same care where inexpensive guidance on nutrition, lung clearing exercises and improved case management could lead to massive improvements in quality of life for those with CF.

My main motivation for running for the CHI is that my sister has Cystic Fibrosis. Like many with CF she spent a good chunk of her childhood in and out of hospital, mainly based at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London which isn't exactly a quick walk from our home in Reading. "Coincidentally" her major hospital visits always coincided with my birthday although resulting interrogations have concluded this was in fact just a coincidence... Perhaps very fitting, it was at my sister's wedding earlier this year where I was approached by a family friend involved with CHI if I would be interested in running the Big Half this year due to my link to the condition and the fact that he had heard that "I ran a bit". Of course I said yes and here we are today!

Whilst it is true that I do in fact "run a bit" and hence would not come with the rhetoric of "running to finish it", I promise I will be suffering out there as much as anyone in those last 5k and will be using the charity's work to help fuel the fire to get me to end! As mentioned above it really is the little things that can have a massive help so any small donation would be greatly appreciated - you really could be adding years to someone's life!