Getting a place in the London Marathon via my local running club came as a bit of a shock, really. Being relatively new to running we had only recently been contemplating a marathon, and a good friend has been applying in the general ballot without success for at least 5 years, so we thought we should get started. We both applied, and got knocked back, but were then entered into the ballot for a club place. It was an amazing surprise to find my name being drawn out at the club Christmas party. 

It feels like an immense privilege to have this place, and to be able to represent Thirsk &Sowerby Harriers, and I wanted to make sure that I used the opportunity to raise money for an excellent cause. Meanwhile, Andrew decided that he wanted to support me in training and have the same experience, so decided to look into applying for a charity place. But which charity?

Scope is doing hugely important work in the field of disability equality.  I have an inspirational uncle who has taught me that severe disability need not restrict a person’s achievement. There are almost 14 million disabled people in the UK, that’s one in five of us. Life is harder when you’re disabled. You're twice as likely to be unemployed, getting care is a struggle and the cost of living is higher.  So we’re fundraising for Scope to help create a fairer society. 

We understand that the current cost of living crisis may prevent some people making donations and we completely understand that, but if anyone is able to donate to our page we are very grateful.