One in four women will experience domestic abuse at some point in their lifetime and on average one woman is killed every 5 days in England and Wales by a current or former partner.

One woman in four will experience domestic abuse at some point in her lifetime and on average two women are killed each week in England and Wales by a current or former partner.

The truth is I am one of those four women. I wasn't okay for a long time but I am one of the lucky ones. I have rebuilt my life.

I was battered through the UAE courts and the UK courts 48 times as punishment for leaving an abusive marriage.

I was physically, mentally, emotionally and financially abused. I was forced to pay all the bills from my salary whilst my husband apparently "saved" his salary for our future and more importantly our son's future. I was pushed into a large wine rack and he tried to strangle me in anger on several occasions. I was told how ugly, fat and unworthy of him I was on almost on a daily basis. I was always the subject of his jokes and made fun of in front of his friends.

On a holiday in Thailand, he lost his wedding ring in the sea and then blamed me for it because I wanted to go to the beach. This is just one of thousands examples I could give.

He had several affairs and always blamed me for them.

A day after I had our son, he signed discharge papers to discharge our son from hospital even though the doctor wanted us to stay and I also wanted to stay. I had a hard birth and I felt like I had been hit by a car. When we arrived home he tried to restrict my access to our son citing "babies cry", "leave him cry". When I refused I was subjected to an abusive rant at me saying what a terrible mother I was. I desperately wanted to leave.

After our son was born, his behaviour became worse. He would disappear for days and became even more secretive. I recognised the signs immediately, he was having another affair. This time with his work colleague. Instead of admitting to it, he told all our friends and family that he was really concerned about me because I was having a mental breakdown.

I was subjected to a smear campaign in a country which wasn't my home. He sent his lawyers to my employment three times to threaten and intimidate me into handing our son over to him and to stop the divorce proceedings in the court.

Part of my joy in life is animals. Some people in my community will recognise me due to my husky Skye. The truth is Skye was one of two huskies. In the UAE I was known for my two huskies Jake and Skye. They were family to me. As a punishment for refusing to sign financial documents as part of my separation from my ex, my ex had my husky Jake put down. He then sent me a photograph of him dead with a message to say I was next. I decided to leave Dubai and I had no idea if he had travel banned our son from leaving the country so I arrived at the airport not knowing if I would be allowed to leave with our son but thankfully we got through and I returned to the UK the next day with our son for our safety.

This was a turning point for me and gave me the space to start healing, but in a new area having left my house, family, friends and job.

I started to work through the years of abuse and that left me feeling that I was not good enough for anyone.

I have rebuilt my life with the help of family and friendsbut there are so many women who are not as lucky.

Running has helped my mental health and helped me on the bad days. I want to run for those those that can't. For those that need to be safe. For those that need support and a safe space and for those who never made me.

Refuge helps so many women and children with domestic abuse.

Refuge is the largest single provider of specialist services to survivors of domestic, sexual and gender-based abuse and runs the freephone, 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline that provides the first step to women escaping abuse. 

 By kindly sponsoring me today you are helping to save and change the lives of thousands of women and their children. Thank you