My (Kelly) sister Natalie, sadly passed away in July last year after fighting a very long hard battle with Crohn’s disease. She lived with the disease for over 20 years, with the last 6 years of her life being under palliative care at Roxburghe house. She tried every treatment available but sadly nothing ever worked for her. Crohn's can lead to horrible complications which ultimately ended Natalie's life way too early.

I have also lived with Crohn's for over 20 years and am passionate about raising awareness and hope that one day we can find a cure. In Natalie's words, "Keep Fighting and never give up"

After running London Marathon last year, we vowed never to run a Marathon again. But after Natalie's passing, we thought we'd like to do something in her memory.

So this year, 2024, the year Natalie would have been 40, myself and 2 amazing cousins Kim and Kaz are undertaking a challenge to complete 40 different challenges over the year.

The full list of challenges is evolving as the year goes on, but to start we have completed and planned for the below.

COMPLETED TO DATE:

1 - 1 Million & 40 Steps Challenge (1/1/24-25/3/24)

At the start of the year we asked others to join in the challenge, for a small donation to this page, upon completing would receive a medal and certificate in memory of Natalie. An average of just under 12,000 steps a day. Thank you to everyone who took part and massive well done. And thank to you the amazing charity, Gathimba Edwards who made us awesome medals to share with you.

2 - Challenge 2 was the Big Winter Workout which was run by Crohn’s and Colitis UK, to be active for 31 minutes every day in January. However, we upped that to 40 minutes a day to tie in with our challenge. Some days were a struggle but we did it :)

3 - Challenge 3 - Run 104 miles in January! This was also a struggle, especially with the winter weather and went right to the wire.

4 - Challenge 4 - 40 squats every day in February! This was hilarious! We filmed ourselves every day for proof on time lapse videos! It sounded easy at the start but by the end the legs had had enough!

5 - Challenge 5 - Bennachie 18 mile trail run on Natalie's birthday, 25th March! We wanted to do something on her birthday and chose this crazy route (thanks Kim). It's an official race that takes part later in the year, when the weather would be kinder! We were met with a lot of water, mud and SNOW! It was cold, our feet were wet from the outset and with an elevation gain almost the height of a munro, it sure was a testing challenge but in a weird way, fun.

6 - Challenge 6 - Edinburgh Marathon :)

It rained, it rained a lot!! But we did it, all 3 of us ran a marathon. It wasn't easy but little signs along the way kept us going.

OTHERS IN PROGRESS & PLANNED:

* 4,444,444 steps in the year (avg 12k every day)

* 104 5ks run in the year

* 44 10ks run in the year

* A 4 minute dunk in the North Sea (shoulder height)

* Cover the distance of Aberdeen - Disney Land Florida. Natalie was the biggest Disney fan and would have loved to have gone to Florida. 4205 total miles to cover, 1400 each

* 1 Official Marathon - All 3 of us are doing Edinburgh Marathon at the end of May and Kim is also signed up to do Chicago in October

* 40 mile challenge - tbc

* Midnight run (Abz Airport run)

* Walk It June - Crohns & Colitis June challenge (others can join in) - we aim to cover 200 miles of walking in June (other activities such as running/cycling don't count)

* Volunteering days for other charities

* Summer holidays active challenge

* 2024 miles in the year

* Santa fun runs

* Kayleighs wee stars turkey trot

* June Walk 100 Miles

* 3ks of Christmas

A lot of challenges still to be confirmed and will keep this page updated as we go. We are also keen for others to join in so please if you have any suggestions get in touch.

We also want to do things for other charities, whether that's official races with funds going to charities or volunteering days - if anyone has any suggestions, please let us know. Gathimba Edwards was our first charity to raise awareness of with our amazing medals https://gathimbaedwardsfoundation.org/

About Crohn's & Colitis UK Charity....

We’re the UK’s leading charity for Crohn’s and Colitis.

Right now, an estimated 500,000 people in the UK are living with a lifelong disease that many people have never heard of. And the real number could be almost double that.

Because of the stigma and misunderstanding surrounding these diseases, thousands of people are suffering in silence.

But they’re not alone.

We’re working to improve diagnosis and treatment, and to fund research into a cure; to raise awareness and to give people hope, comfort and confidence to live freer, fuller lives.