I've never run anywhere before, apart from 'cross country running' during games at school to avoid playing Rugby, for the train when I was late for school and the occasional night bus when I was a 20 something living in London and drunk as a lord.

This year, full to the brim of mince pies and mulled wine, I had a 'midlife crisis' and decided to try to achieve Couch to 5K in January.  I spent the dark month of January, the month that always takes me back to the tragedy of Olivia's death and the grief that followed and has followed me since; learning that despite my belief, I could actually run.  Not far at first, painfully and slowly but I could run.  By April I'd completed Couch to 5k and could actually run 5k in just over 30 minutes.

I completed Ride London 100 training between March and May and reminded myself that long endurance events are possible, with the right training and the right mental attitude.

So I'm pushing myself further.  From the couch to the London Marathon in 10 months.  It hurts real bad, but nothing I will endure in the process matches the physical  pain that Liv felt during her short life, or the mental pain that I felt after she was injured and again after she died.

Shooting Star were with us throughout, they helped us in the dark days after Olivia's injury with coping with her medication and equipment.  They helped us with respite care throughout her life, and helped her to make the best of herself with many therapies and activities that she could not have done elsewhere.  They helped our boys to enjoy life despite the pressure that having Liv placed upon them.  And then when she died, they were there.  Just a hour after her heart stopped in hospital in Guildford we were in Christopher's Hospice, with friendly faces who knew us all.  Liv rested there until her funeral, and the wonderful people who make Shooting Star such an important place propped us up in the raw hours while we came to terms with what had happened.

In short we couldn't have coped without Shooting Star, and we owe them a debt that we will never be able to pay.  So I must try whatever I can to lighten that load.

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Shooting Star Children's Hospices cares for babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions, and their families across Surrey and London.  Whether lives are measured in days, weeks, months or years, we are here to make every moment count.  We support families from diagnosis to end of life and throughout bereavement with a range of nursing, practical, emotional and medical care.