In 2002 I ran the London Mini-Marathon for the MS Society which is the last 3 miles of the marathon in the morning before the professional athletes. I had recently lost my aunt Marie to MS and had seen personally the pain and suffering it had caused. 

18 years later I finally plucked up the courage to sign up to run the first 23.2 miles of the London marathon (and the last 3 miles) in aid of the MS Society. 

To be honest the motivation for running the marathon started as quite a personal endeavor as I wanted to finally run it before I turned 30. But in my research for this I was reminded how horrendous a condition MS is, how incredibly lucky I have been not to know anyone personally in the last 18 years who had the condition and the incredible work the MS Society does.  

Multiple sclerosis is a neurological condition where your body's immune system mistakes the substance that protects your nerves, called myelin, for a foreign body and attacks it. This damages the myelin and strips your nerve fibres which disrupts messages travelling along nerves, slowing them down, distorting them or stopping them all together. 

There is currently no known cure for MS. 

Marie had been diagnosed in her 30s and suffered for a long time before she passed away. She was in a wheel chair during my living memory of her. 

The MS Society provide information, support and services to people living with MS. They provide financial, emotional and local support through carers and specialists. 

They also fund millions in research each year by investing in leading medical research in treatment and understanding how the condition works. 

Please support me and let's stop MS together.