I was due to run London Marathon in 2019 but unfortunately I was injured and unable to run. The level of sponsorship and support I had was amazing and Versus Arthritis have been good enough to ensure my place for 2022 so.....on the 2nd October 2022 I will be running the London Marathon for Versus Arthritis and in September 2022 I will now also be running The Great North Run !! I am honoured and privileged to be raising money for something that means so much to me personally. So many of you have already sponsored me that I have no pressure to raise the funds but still want to do all I can for the Charity.

Arthritis is bit of a hidden condition. There are many types and it has all sorts of impact on people’s lives without necessarily being visible and without people really understanding the various types.
My story is here, it’s a long one, you don’t have to read it all but thank you if you do and ALL donations will be hugely appreciated.

Many people don’t know a lot of this and that is because I have kept it mostly private, but as I’m raising funds for this amazing charity I want to be as honest as possible to help raise awareness.
Throughout my life I had always suffered from Psoriasis. Sometimes mild, sometimes extremely aggressive. Alongside this was a constant feeling of aching especially after exercise but I thought this was normal. Recovery after a game of football took about a week.
In 2000 I was so embarrassed by the amount of Psoriasis on my scalp that I decided I could never visit a hairdresser again and stopped straightaway. My wife cut my hair for 13 years…Then in 2008 after reaching 40 my body decided to have some renovation. Removal
of my gallbladder was followed by 2 knee operations, an operation on my hand then finally a major back operation. All of this was in the space of 9 months and left me carrying a lot of weight, unfit but at the same time grateful that it wasn’t life threatening and I was out of the other side. I had learnt to log certain moments and the one I logged here was a conversation with my consultant before my back operation. He asked me how would I know if he had improved things for me. “If I can walk 100 yards with my dog then that would be brilliant.”
I managed to get to a level of fitness that allowed me to start playing cricket again, then in 2012 I noticed that I had appeared to have broken 3 of my fingers. Bit odd as I had not been hit or had any trauma. Several visits to my GP and various x-rays confirmed the fingers were not broken but offered no reason of the cause. It was just something to put up with but the pain of the fingers and then my other joints was becoming an increasing problem for me.
Although it’s an invisible condition to most, the impact on my life at this point was considerable. Day to day tasks we all take for granted became impossible for me. Opening jars, changing the temperature of the shower, getting dressed were all becoming more and more problematic. That’s without mentioning the impact on my mental health. 
My wife worked at a GP Surgery at the time and noticed a patient with the same symptoms as me and noted their diagnosis. Some Internet research followed, and I went to see my GP again armed with the information. He agreed that this looked like Psoriatic Arthritis and referred me to my local Hospitals Rheumatology Department.
My local hospital the Countess of Chester is amazing. My children were all born there and my personal experience and treatment there has been fantastic.
After a series of test, scans, x-rays and blood tests I was diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis and prescribed my first medication which is called Methotrexate. I was put on the highest dose possible which meant 10 tablets once a week with folic acid tablets on each of the other days.
Within a week the Psoriasis on my scalp had all but gone – I celebrated by visiting the hairdressers !!
My joint problems continued but the Hospitals Occupational Therapy department designed devices for me to improve my grip, so I could open jars and bottles and not boil myself in the shower! They made me supports for my joints to relieve some of the pressure – they were fantastic.

I was prescribed another medication called Sulfasalazine which had little or no impact. Then at Christmas 2014 I had hit about as low as I had ever been. As I left my office to go home on Christmas Eve I looked back and, in my mind, said goodbye. I couldn’t see
any way that I could ever go back. The pain had got so bad that it was taking me 20 mins to get out of bed, I couldn’t button my shirt and every movement was awkward. On top of this my mental health had deteriorated and everything had got on top of me. I logged this as my lowest point. A week later I was prescribed Humira. It’s an injection, given at home, that for me would be every fortnight. A nurse visited my house and showed me what to do and I had my first injection. Within a week I could feel a huge difference and as the days went on I was feeling better and better. The inflammation in my joints subsided and by February my physio was keen for me to step up my exercise and telling me to walk further and longer. Walking was great but all of a sudden I felt the urge to do more – I was feeling so much better.

 At the end of February 2015 I started Couch to 5K, it’s a 10 week programme but took me about 15 weeks. It was life changing
In June 2015 I entered a 5K race in my local town – I loved it. I carried on running and although I was slow I was managing to up my distance. My weight was improving which was great but the best thing was that my head was now in a much better place. I had moved up to 10k then Half Marathons and running was now a major part of my life. Although my Arthritis was now under control I would learn that I had to deal with “flare ups”. This meant the joints would become inflamed and painful and I wouldn’t know why. It dies down after a day or two and you learn to live with it but it’s a reminder of the condition
I continued to enter races and joined a local club – Ellesmere Port Running Club. This helped me immensely, lots of great people with encouragement, advice and friendship. My weight dipped and I felt stronger and stronger. My local gym Prime Fitness helped me improve my strength and as a result of my improved fitness my medication was reduced and by the end of 2018 I had completed my first Marathon. There have been some possibly connected issues along the way since my diagnosis. I have constant high blood pressure which is controlled by more medication with as many as 13 tablets to take some days. I also found out that I suffer from a condition called Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome which is a heart condition where there is an extra electrical pathway in the heart. The condition can lead to periods of rapid heart rate so I have to manage that as well. Low immunity as a result of the medication can also lead to some problems so Flu (each year) and Pneumonia jabs are a must for me. I understand that some people may think I can’t be that bad given the running and sometimes I think that myself which is why I logged those key times in my mind. 2014 I was at rock bottom. In 2008 my goal was to walk 100 yards, almost exactly 10 years later I ran 26.2 miles and in 2022 I will do it again. So now I am in my 50's  and it’s time for me to give something back. This is not meant to be for sympathy – for me it is about making people aware. It could be Arthritis or anyone of a number of conditions that we are not aware of and people are suffering from silently - or not in my case now 😊
Along this journey I owe a huge amount to my family, my running club , my work colleagues, my gym and all of my friends. Some may not have known it but they got me through some tough times and I will never forget that.

Thanks for reading – I will make sure you all know how I get on in the London Marathon (and Great North Run !!)

😊