Ey up! I'm running a marathon in April!

Before 2023, I would look at people who chose to for fun in absolute awe and confusion. Why would you choose to run for hours in your free-time? What about your knees? I was reminded of a photograph of my dad holding his London Marathon medal, absolutely beaming. I thought perhaps there must be something in this whole running thing and it might be time to check it out.Turns out, those runners, they are onto something.

I made the decision quite rashly and spontaneously (Sophie Bevan making rash decisions what!?) but it came at a time I was having a bit of a battle in my old noggin and thought I could do with a boost and proof of some resilience. I figured more action, less thinking. Let it never be said that I am wasting my time again.

As I run, I will think of Steve and hope he would be proud. I think he'd probably cry or try and join me. A part of me feels more connected to him than I have for a while, imagining him going out and training in the same drizzly cold winter weather. (He ran the marathon the year I was born and the doctors wouldn't let my pregnant mum run, so this one's for you too Barbs!xx)

I will also think of how lucky I am to live in a free part of the world and be grateful I can choose to run for fun. I will be grateful that my immediate worries right now are if my knees are ok and if I've eaten enough protein.

Why I am running the marathon:

If I am going to prance around Manchester in some lycra, I would like it to mean something and do some good. I am running in aid of Doctors Without Borders, a charity providing urgent emergency support to those in crisis around the world.

I know money is tight for all at the moment but any donation would be greatly appreciated to support MSF provide urgent help for those in crisis, particularly in Gaza.

Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is the world's leading medical humanitarian aid organisation.

They provide emergency assistance to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics and natural or man-made disasters, without discrimination and irrespective of race, religion, gender or political affiliation.

They work in over 70 countries and go to the places where others cannot or choose not to go.

MSF teams have been working in Palestine since 1989, providing trauma care, mental health services and running a specialist reconstructive surgery project. They currently have around 300 staff members in Gaza. The majority are Palestinian and many have now lost homes or family members in the violence.

Nearly 85 percent of people in Gaza are now estimated to be forcibly displaced and living in unsafe and unhealthy conditions.

Hospitals across the Strip have been completely overwhelmed and faced running out of critical supplies. Some medical facilities have been hit by indiscriminate bombing while others have been under siege. MSF staff have repeatedly spoken of the wounded screaming without painkillers, how already sick people cannot reach care, and the fear of being hit in an airstrike.

More than 10,000 children have been killed in Gaza. Oxfam said that the daily death toll of Palestinians in Israel’s war on Gaza surpasses that of any other major conflict in the 21st century, while survivors remain at high risk due to hunger, diseases and cold, as well as ongoing Israeli bombardments.

MSF Work in Gaza: https://msf.org.uk/issues/israel-hamas-conflict

Palestine Solidarity Campaign: https://palestinecampaign.org/

If you've made it this far to the end, thank you. I really did want to be concise. And thank you, endlessly, to all those supporting me, sending me hype songs, running with me and teaching me about stretching. You'll be in my heart each km xx