Hi everyone,

I'm running the London Marathon in 2025! As many of my friends and family know, the only running I've done up until recently is either for the bus, the ice cream man or to an emergency at work (and those were a bit of a struggle to be honest). I've been offered a place to run the marathon for Antenatal Results and Choices, so I've blown the dust off my old running gear, and will work my backside off to raise as much money as I can for this fantastic charity.

Why the marathon, and why ARC?

In 2016 Nick and I found out we were going to have our first baby. It was a bit of a shock to be honest. We weren't trying and we'd not long been married, but we were absolutely delighted to become parents. All of the initial appointments were great, the 12 week scan (which so many people had told us was the one to worry about) looked perfect and all of our risk factors were low.

On the 19th April 2016, Nick and I drove to Ealing Hospital for the 20 week scan. We were chatting about what we had on at work that afternoon, how many scan photos we should buy, completely unaware about how the rest of the day would pan out.

At 9am we walked into the sonographer’s room and we were told that there was an abnormality, quite a severe one. My whole world collapsed.

After a week of appointments, scans, 3 different hospitals, specialists, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th opinions and complete and utter devastation, we made the heartbreaking decision to end the pregnancy for medical reasons. Imogen was born on 24th April 2016 at 11.33am at 21 weeks gestation.

I was signposted to ARC by one of the midwives at Queen Charlotte's hospital. They're an organisation that provide parents with non-directive information and support before, during and after antenatal screening. I contacted them over the phone when I felt able to, and online in their forums when I couldn't face talking. They offered practical and unbiased advice on what my options were from immediately after the scan up to now, 8 years later when I struggle around her birthday. The support they give to families is unmatched. I'm mainly running now because I want to contribute in both awareness and money to helping other mothers and families access the support and advice I did. I've never undertaken an endurance event like this before, ARC would be the only organisation I'd put myself through it for.

ARC is entirely funded by donations, they're based in the UK but their online resources can be accessed by anyone globally. Any support or help you can give will be massively appreciated - Thank you.