UPDATE

❤️ Thank you ❤️

Together we have raised £1000 for Sheffield Children's Hospital.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for every donation, share and words of encouragement!! Getting myself ultra-ready, and all the races in-between, just a year after having Minnie has been a real challenge for both myself and my family. And so your kindness and generosity has meant more than you'll ever know.

Huge thanks go to my TWR Rotherham ladies, our Sunday socials helped me fall back in love with running after navigating a tough chapter in life and of course all the ultra prep tips 🥰.

Obviously, I also need to thank all my family who have made the last few months logistically possible...I know watching Margot and Minnie is like herding cats 😂😂 so it really is appreciated.

But my biggest thanks has to go to Dane. Quite possibly the most patient man to ever walk the planet. Fitting your life around my running, being my biggest cheerleader, and patiently listening to the 2746386 mid-run calls I made bawling my eyes out 😂🤦🏻‍♀️.

Saturday just summed it up perfectly. A final 50km with Dane on his bike following me for every single step. I might have got the glory with the finisher's medal but this was our challenge and together we did it!!

A year ago today, 03.02.2024, we faced our worst nightmare. Our eldest daughter, Margot, suffered a complex febrile convulsion at home. For over an hour paramedics and Rotherham A&E staff worked to stop the convulsion before placing Margot into an induced coma.

Suddenly, a very ordinary Saturday night became filled with CT scans, an urgent transfer to Sheffield Children's Intensive Care Unit and being told to prepare for the possibility of Margot suffering long term brain damage.

The days that followed were undoubtedly some of our hardest but we knew our girl was in the best possible hands. From safely bringing Margot out of the coma to working through the night when cannulas continued to fail, the team were nothing short of superheroes. And just a few days later, surpassing everyone's initial expectations, we heard the words we'd prayed for; "Margot will make a full recovery".

Today, Margot is the happiest and healthiest toddler you can imagine. She's a Superworm superfan, a bossy big sister to Minnie and queen of the disco. Our girls are without question our world and being able to enjoy life as a family of four is all thanks to the amazing teams who saved Margot's life that night.

And so today I'm also announcing my biggest run to date. Whilst we could never express how truly grateful we are, I am going to try and raise some money for the Children's Hospital Charity. Over the next few months, I am going to be running...

5km (Rother Valley Parkrun)

10km (Wickersley 10km)

Half Marathon (Sheffield Half Marathon)

Marathon (Rob Burrows Leeds Marathon)

50km Ultra Marathon (Thames Tow Path Ultra)

Whilst I love running, this couldn't be further out of my comfort zone. I've never ran a proper ultra before, I'm going to have to finally tackle mid-run fuelling and I'm also somewhat sleep deprived living with a toddler and a 5 month old. But I'm also looking forward to the challenge and trying to show just a shred of the resilience Margot has.

If anyone would like to sponsor me, any donations would be amazing and will help us say a great big thank you to the truly wonderful teams at Rotherham, Sheffield and Embrace transfer.

Steph x