OK... marathon number three and this time it's really personal because it's not only the London Marathon, but also because I'm running for Myeloma UK.

Mum died of multiple myeloma. It was a disease I'd never heard of before she was diagnosed with it in 2013, a seemingly rare blood cancer which affects the plasma and attacks the immune system. She stoically went through five years of chemo, a horrible stem cell transplant, and some pretty scary emergency trips to hospital, before the myeloma won on a hot summer's day in June 2017.

Myeloma is a weird cancer to 'fight' because for a long time it actually seemed like there was nothing wrong. It's hidden, people can live with it for a long time, but it's incurable so it's only ever a matter of time. Sometimes I couldn't believe mum was really ill, she seemed fine, it was just the drugs that made her sick, not the cancer... but it was there, wearing down her immune system and stopping her blood from doing whatever blood is meant to do.

Myeloma doesn't have the high profile of other cancers, yet its incidence has risen by over a third since the 1990s and almost 6000 people in the UK get diagnosed with it every year. And Myeloma UK is a small charity, which doesn't get any public funding, so individual fundraising is hugely important to how it can support those with myeloma.

And so to the running... As many of my friends and family know, I started running when mum was dying because it seemed like a generally good thing to do at a tough time, plus mum told me to cut down on the booze! And it's become my thing, my passion, what keeps me going through bad days, and it's brought me close to some of the most amazing people in my life. Quite simply, I love it.

So I would so grateful if you could support me to support others living with myeloma, or those that love them, and help me raise a load of money in memory of my wonderful Mum - who quite frankly would have been shocked at the thought of me running one marathon, let alone three!

xxx