I was diagnosed with diabetes in July 2015 as a blue light emergency DBK with blood sugars of 47. Obviously a very traumatic time for me and my family. I had some previous experience of diabetes as both my Grandmother and father both were type 2 diabetics but the shock of the diagnosis and how unwell I was was very hard to deal with at the time especially as I was in hospital for over a week recovering.

After coming to terms with how I would have to manage my life. The last 10 years have been quite a journey and my health has been very up and down. But in 2019 with the encouragement of my eldest daughter (Jessica). I embarked on running my first 5K. With each other for encouragement we completed this in a very respectable 32 minutes!! before this I could not even run for 5 minutes so was a massive achievement at the time!

Running since then has had a profound impact of my health. It has also given my mental health a lift and I feel so much more confident. I've gone from running 5K (which was a massive challenge at the start!) to running marathons (This is my second London Marathon)

So now I embark on this new challenge and it will be a massive one after a couple of years of not training as well as managing my sugar levels whilst I negotiate the 26.2 miles!! But this is all for the great cause which is diabetes UK.

I can't tell how much support this charity gave me when I was first diagnosed. The website is a wealth of information and is always my first port of call for information when I'm not sure on things. Also the amazing support they give aiding the research in treating diabetics around the world. So this is very much a cause close to my heart and I hope you can support me in raising some well needed funds for them!

Thank you so much in advance and I will keep everyone posted as my training progresses!