Wow, I’m actually going to run the London marathon for Hospice UK on the 27th April 2025!

If any of you know me then you know I am absolutely not a long distance runner, never have been but hopefully by April next year I very much will be! To say this is going to be a challenge is a HUGE understatement, I am so determined though! Plus I can’t let Thomas have all the glory and attention again can I?

I don’t tend to do things I’m not very good at but I do feel like this is going to be an exception and I am ready to be humbled. I’ve given myself 6 months to train and I will be training hard. Not only because this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, but also because I am running in memory of a person that I loved and I miss so much and for a charity that is very close to my heart that helped us a lot when my granny was dying.

I have lived in the same beautiful house my entire life. Just me, my mum, my brother and my granny. When we were younger and my mum was at work (for a local Hospiscare), my granny would drive my brother and I to the bus stop- wheel spinning at the junction every day without fail, which lowkey was actually terrifying, but this is now one of my fondest memories of her. As I got slightly older and went to a different school, I would go to work at the Hospiscare with my mum before school and meet her there after. During these times I was able to see the impact, importance, kindness and support of a Hospice. I experienced first hand how caring, warm and loving a place could be that was solely for people living with terminal illnesses or having end of life care.

I never anticipated that one day we would be using the support and services of a Hospice for my granny, Joan. She reached the magnificent age of 96 years old but those last few months were so tough.

For any of you that have a granny or granddad that are from “the olden days” you know how special, amazing and at times very quirky they can be. I miss it, I miss being around someone who has the most interesting stories of a time before mobile phones and technology, hearing about how she met my granddad during the war or how one time she had to walk back from a dance, cut across a field and fell over a cow. I miss being around someone who valued quality time and conversation so much. You never truly appreciate how important and short your time will be with them until it’s too late.

As I said earlier, the four of us all lived together. For my whole life my granny had always been around, always there for every big milestone: from my first day at school to my last, seeing me pass my driving test and definitely accidentally terrifying her with my driving, always patiently listening to a full update of my training and competitions with the horses, always there for my very first relationship and making it very clear they were never allowed to stay over until we were married, there for my first break up, always there when I got home from work and always there making sure the kitchen was stocked full of snacks- my favourite being her selection of biscuits (although the “blue ribband” as she called them were not my favourites).

This meant that when my granny became ill in 2022, we all became her full time carers. Towards her end of life and when she was really poorly this became very hard but we wanted to let her stay at home surrounded by the people who loved and cared for her the most. We couldn’t have done it without the support and help from our local Hospiscare. They were amazing and not only helped my granny but supported myself, my brother and my mum too. I can’t thank them enough.

This is why I’m running for Hospice Uk- I want to give back to a charity that supports a community of more than 200 hospices across the UK, helping them deliver the best, most personalised care to 300,000 people each year. They do everything they can for children and adults living with long-term illness or approaching the end of their lives. They fight to make sure hospice care is there for everyone, from every background.

I’m writing all of this today on 20th October which would’ve been my granny’s 99th birthday. I miss her so much and for anyone who has lost someone they love, you know how hard it is every year when their birthday comes around. And to be perfectly honest normally this time of year I mope around feeling quite sorry for myself so having the marathon to train for has really given me a focus. I’ve been very anxious to start my training and fundraising as I know how hard it’s going to be but with my granny being at the heart of all of this and today being her birthday I feel like she’s right here with me. Launching my fundraising today helps me keep the memories of her alive and celebrate what is normally quite a sad day as a start of something great in memory of my granny Joan.

So please join me on my marathon journey and donate anything you can, I really will be grateful for anything, even if it’s just a motivational message! I promise to raise as much as I can and train as hard as I can to support Hospice UK.

Happy Heavenly Birthday Granny, I hope I make you proud,

Sophie x