Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

So I have decided to finally take part in the Great North Run - it's something I've wanted to do for a long time and have decided that this is the year for me!

With 5 months to go I have started "training" - first time running outside since before Charlie was born (and he's just turned 5) and to be totally honest I'd forgotten quite how hard it was so this will be most definitely a one off event!

Knowing I'm going to find this incredibly tough, I wanted to run for a charity that means something to me.  I've chosen the British Heart Foundation (BHF) for a few reasons:

• a few close family members have been impacted by cardiac disease and have directly benefited from the work and research of the BHF; 
• both my mum and sister have worked, and headed up, nursing cardio teams in the north east for many years and lastly, 
• heart disease causes more than a quarter of all deaths in the UK each year and over the last 50 years the BHF research has helped halve death rates from cardiovascular disease.  That research has helped my family directly and knowing that will help motivate me over the next 5 months.

Many thanks for your support, Rachel x