On 13 September, I’ll be standing on the start line of the Great North Run in memory of my mum.

Our relationship was not simple. We were estranged for many years, and it was only after the death of my sister that we began to rebuild some form of relationship. Not long after that, my mum was diagnosed with cancer, and I became one of the people responsible for looking after her.

It was difficult, complicated and painful. Losing someone does not suddenly rewrite the relationship you had with them, but it does leave you carrying a lot: the things that happened, the things that were never resolved and the things that can no longer be said.

This race is my way of doing something positive with all of that.

The last couple of years have brought grief, illness, injury, setbacks and some of the hardest periods of my life. There have been times when training had to stop completely and times when getting out of the door felt like a challenge in itself.

But I kept coming back.

I have rebuilt myself run by run. I have trained through early mornings, difficult long runs, illness, doubt and every reason to take the easier option. What began as a goal simply to complete the Great North Run has become something much bigger.

I am not turning up just to get around it. I am not going to jog it and collect a medal.

I am going to race it.

I have worked too hard and overcome too much to approach it in any other way. Every mile of training has been part of rebuilding my fitness, my confidence and myself.

I am raising money for Anthony Nolan in memory of my mum and in recognition of a relationship that was complicated, unfinished and ultimately shaped a huge part of my life.

Every donation, no matter the amount, will help support an important cause and give even more meaning to the work I have put into reaching that start line.

This is about grief in all its complexity, overcoming adversity and proving that the hardest parts of your story do not have to be the end of it.

Thank you for supporting me.