Hello everyone!

*EDIT... October 2019 >>

A final push to raise a few extra pennies for Mind Charity, I'll be donning my Mind vest once again at Valencia Half Marathon to complete my fundraising mission for 2019... (until I think of another challenge next one.. :D).  With injuries and various things, this running journey continues to be a BIG challenge - but I'm determined to get through that 21K (despite not being able to run than distance since my last attempt at Valencia Half last year. 

But thinking positively... once I cross the finish line in Valencia, I'll be donating £1 for each KM (hopefully) ran! 

If you'd like to show your support for the invaluable work Mind do too, every penny really does count :). 

The original story...

As some of you may be aware I took on a personal challenge in January...RED (Run Every Day) January... long story short I ran 100 miles over the course of the month (running every day...) in support of my own mental health, and to raise a pennies for Mind Charity. You can read a little more about that here: bit.ly/KatieREDJAN. 

On the back of RED, I have decided to dedicate all the races I run this year to Mind. The plan is ten 10km runs plus two half marathons*. So that's a total of 242 race kms. 

* • Update 09/07/2018... decided to up the mileage (and up the pounds 😃) so i’m off to run Valencia half marathon in October too :D ). 

In a similar fashion to RED (where I donated a round Great British pound per mile ran) I'm going to be donating a similar £1 for each race KM I complete (hence the fundraising target) and would be so incredibly grateful of any further support for Mind, every penny really does count.

I'm also running** 100 miles in May as part in RUNR's #milesformind initiative to support Mind. LET'S GO! [*** I walked/swam this because I was injured...still got the miles in though :)]

Why run? Why Mind? I hear you cry..!?!

The premise of RED January was all about getting moving to promote positive mental health, be it walking, running, hopping, skipping...etc...and it was through this amazing experience that my love for running returned - something I'll be forever grateful for 🙏🏻💙. While taking part in the challenge and talking more openly about my mental health in general, it really hit home - the importance of giving yourself a purpose and a feeling that YOU matter - RED and the running community gave me that, things that at one point, I thought I'd lost forever.

A little context...This time last year (2017) I was in a state of disarray (understatement) with regards to both my physical and mental health, something that took me a long time to begin to recover from. I'm not 100% there yet, but I'm coming back fighting! I'm raising money for Mind because I strongly believe that the work they do is truly invaluable. I was fortunate enough that I had the most supportive group of people around me during my darkest of days, helped me through, and remain alongside me today. Many people do not have this kind of support, and in my experience, professional help is overstretched and very limited. I would like to do try and do something (be it small, but hopefully valuable) to try and help those who need it most. 

So, on the run front....

• Tatton Park 10k - Sunday 8th April - DONE ✅ 

• Liverpool Spring 10k - Sunday 6th May - injury 😩... but thank you so much to Chris Raybould for taking on these kms for me 🙏🏻💚 
  

• #MilesForMind - 100 miles in May - (injured) had to walk a lot but those miles got done

• Vitality 10k - Monday 28th May - blooming well did it 😀✅

• Shrewsbury Half Marathon - okay I'm back on :D... (first EVER half marathon totter 💙👊🏻) ✅ THANK YOU SO MUCH HEATHER - we smashed it 🙌🏻🏃‍♀️🎉
  
  
• Leeds 10k - Sunday 8th July DONE ✅.... sooooo hot!!

• Cholmondeley Castle 10k - Sunday 22nd July ✅.... that was incredibly hard, my motivation for running (Mind)  was the only thing that kept me going

• York 10k - Sunday 5th August ✅ - blooming LOVED IT ❤️ 

• Tatton 10k - Saturday 8th September (Back to Tatton Park..where this all kicked off... because I can't make the rescheduled Cheshire 10k in November.. also as I need my next fix of the famous flapjack :D)

• Sandbach 10k - Sunday 16th September - DONE

• Valencia Half Marathon - 28th October (first race abroad... :D - DONE!!
  

• Valencia 10k - January 2019  - DONE
• 15k Valencia - Albierta Al Mar - March 2019  - DONE

If you've read up to hear here, thank you so much for taking the time to read my story... and for all the support so far this year. If you would like to make a contribution to Mind, that would be AMAZING, you’ll be supporting an invaluable organisation in helping make people’s lives better 💙. 

I have, however primarily set this JustGiving Page up to keep myself accountable throughout this challenge... and to keep the conversation around mental health on the agenda. 

Thanks again for reading 🙏🏻🏃‍♀️.