A couple of months ago, I was asked if I wanted to run the Edinburgh marathon for Sepsis Research. Despite having never run a marathon before, I quickly said yes. 2020 has been truly abysmal for almost everyone, with far too many loved ones lost to Coronavirus.

But there were other negative effects. Personally, the first lockdown of March and April was terrible for me. The sucker punch of not seeing anyone coupled with the cancellation of exams a few days later was difficult to get my head around. 18 months of work seemingly wiped from beneath me. The consequence of this was that I was out every day, running or cycling as far as my legs would allow. Listening to music to block out the perils of trying to deduce what the world had become. Maybe I was trying to run away from lockdown, or just desperately avoiding the repetition of being at home - even if it meant repeating the same exercises over and over. The opportunity of now having a goal to work towards, in the form of a marathon, was too good an opportunity to turn down. 

Sepsis Research are a small Edinburgh-based charity, and the only Sepsis Research charity in Britain. During the pandemic, their resources were shifted to researching the coronavirus, and the prospect of supporting a local charity in their (and indeed, my adopted) home city was a massive factor in accepting the offer. You can read more about what they do and where their donations will go below. 

In the coming months, I'll update you with how my training is going, combined perhaps with the occasional fundraising update! All that leaves is for me to say the first of many thanks for all your support! Oh, and don't forget to Gift Aid if possible :)  

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Sepsis Research are a registered Scottish Charity SC049399 & we are the UK’s only Sepsis Research Charity. Sepsis accounts for over 50,000 deaths in the UK every year - that's more than breast and bowel cancer combined. We don't understand enough about sepsis and the biological processes that can lead to serious illness or even death. That is why we urgently need to increase funding for research, to understand the processes and design effective treatments for sepsis, to help save lives.