Firstly, I must stress I am not a serious runner! Furthest distance I have ever run is about 5 miles, now i am about to embark on a 12mile jaunt!!!! I have struggled to train due to work, childcare & 3 bambinos 5 & under therefore this is a massive feat for myself!

As most of you know, faith was born with a series of heart defects (tretalogy of fallot, pulmonary atresia & a VSD) & spent the first 3 months of her life in intensive care. She underwent open heart surgery at 11 weeks old at yorkhill children's hospital & has thrived ever since. However, there are still several complications with her heart so in the not to distant future further open heart surgery will be required.

Not only am I running for Faith.  I'm also running for a few close friends. My friend Jennifer's wee boy, James, suffers from a very similar condition to faith & he has undergone a two surgeries & a number of procedures. Unfortunately another surgery for him is imminent! 

Scott & Gills baby, Ethan was born 3 months ago with hypoplastic left heart syndrome & although his first surgery was completed in London they did spend some precious time in Glasgow! Ethan is thriving but is approaching his next surgery! 

Ashley & Chris's baby, Harris has numerous heart defects & is not long home after his first operation! He is so blissfully unaware  but has shown such courage already.

Our little warriors have surpassed all expectations & continue to do so but without the hands of the marvellous surgeons & medical teams this would not be the case. Due to the complexities of our heart warriors conditions they will all require a number of surgeries/procedures/interventions over their lives & the older they get the more aware they will become & ultimately the more impact this will have on them emotionally! 

For myself as a mother, this is a massive concern. How will faith will process each hospital visit/procedure & how will she learn to cope with these & could she perhaps strengthen herself over the years.  

Therefore I am running the half marathon to raise funds for a project named 'beads of courage' (BOC).  This will be a project within Yorkhill Children's Charity.  

BOC originated in the States & there is currently no cardiac BOC programme in the Uk, the Yorkhill programme will be the 1st. BOC allow children with ongoing medical problems to track the surgeries and procedures they have.

Initially each child will receive a strand of thread & beads spelling out their name. After each procedure/ operation a child endures they will be given a particular bead to add to their strand.

There is evidence of huge psychological, social and emotional benefit from doing this. The programme costs £5000 to start, with ongoing yearly running costs of at least this much.

Allow me to help these children RECORD, TELL and OWN their stories of courage during treatment for cardiac care!

For more info please visit:

http://www.beadsofcourage.org/pages/beadsofcourage.html

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.