James has always said the motto of my family is “Ambition outstrips ability”.

I have always fought against this (obviously) but in this specific scenario, I think he might be right.

When the Child Growth Foundation (CGF) messaged me to say they were looking for runners for the Royal Parks half marathon,

“Sure” I thought… “I can run. The charity are great. What could go wrong”. And I said yes.

Multiple things have happened since Yes day:

1. I remembered I can’t run anymore (it seems it’s been over 7 years).

2. I forgot I had had two children in that time.

3. I realised my maths was wrong. It’s 21km. Not 10.

So here I am. Slightly terrified.

I also forgot the reason I was running was to raise awareness of an incredible charity...

There’s a bit of a back story here…

After lots of tests and hospital visits (including an overnight stay at GOSH 😔 ) Eva was diagnosed with low growth hormone at two years old. James and I made the decision that (other than close friends and family) we wouldn’t tell people.

Our reason behind this is because we didn’t want anyone to discount Eva or believe she couldn’t do something.

Eva is an amazing confident and happy little lady, and that’s all we wanted people to see.

Eva has now successfully been on daily growth injections for (almost) 4 years and she’ll carry on on them until she stops growing which, we’re told, is about 15. Eva is still under the care of GOSH and we go up for check ups every 6 months where she of course charms all the doctors and nurses, proudly telling them “look at my loooong legs!”

A few weeks ago I was 8km into a 14km run in the pouring rain I was reflecting on what a lady I’d bumped into had said to me “oh it’s amazing you’re raising awareness - I’d never heard of CGF”. And I realised I hadn’t.

I spoke to James after and we decided that we didn’t need to worry about this anymore - this would never define her. And actually we don’t ever want Eva to feel she has to hide this.

So now, here I am, sharing with as many people as I can that in FOUR WEEKS TIME I will be running to raise money for the Child Growth Foundation.

When I was in an emotional state 4 years ago not knowing what this diagnosis meant, a lovely lady on the CGF helpline made me realise that everything was going to be ok.

And it is :)

CGF are a wonderful but small unknown charity (more details on them below) - so please do support them and me as I prove to James that my ambition does NOT outstrip my ability 😊

Iona, Eva’s mum xxx

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The Child Growth Foundation makes a difference wherever growth is a concern.

We are a UK charity focusing on the support, understanding and management of rare growth conditions to improve the lives of children, young people, adults and families affected.

Activities to raise funds, like our fantastic runners taking on the Royal Parks Half Marathon 2026, make a huge impact on our work and the children, young people, adults, families and healthcare professionals we support.