Each year since their first CR London Winter 10k run back in 2015, I’ve happily waved Neil and some fab family and friends off, wishing them best of luck (sometimes cheering them from the sidelines), as they ran the CRUK London Winter 10k to raise funds for this amazing charity.

Each year, I’ve thought about how nice it would be if one day I could join them, but of course I probably never would because of an old knee injury, not being a natural runner, and various other excuses.

But last year, as I waved them off, I found myself feeling a little sad that I wasn’t joining them. So, I decided to do something about it. I found a local beginners running course that was starting in March and with much encouragement from Neil, off I went. I’ll never forget that first Saturday morning (I could barely run 30 seconds) but gradually, with the help of some fab new running friends, I made it to my first 5k Parkrun a few months later. At that moment, I knew I’d be joining the gang on 9th Feb this year! 

Sadly, as with a lot of families, we’ve lost some loved ones to this awful disease. Notably Eileen, Neil’s wonderful mum, in 2014, and most recently my lovely auntie late last year. 

But, we also have a breast cancer survivor in the family too and without the funding which led to the discovery of treatment to enable this, things may have been very different. Small wins will hopefully one day result in one big one so please donate if you can.