⬇ Training progress at the bottom of the page ⬇

My Story

I woke up one morning last year (2023) and I randomly decided that I wanted to focus on my health, It was one of those pin drop epiphany moments we all have from time to time. I was feeling the reality of being 37 years old, having two kids under 5, a growing business to manage and for some reason my health and what I was eating just felt like it needed to be more important all of a sudden, how much exercise I did needed to matter more. Maybe it was a middle age thing that point where you feel you’re reaching half way lol, who knows! But at that point in time I just worked from a laptop with little to zero exercise and I mean ZERO. The truth is that you never feel older in your head, but the reality is your body is getting older every day and I think everyone hits that moment of realisation at some point in their life.

I had this overwhelming feeling that I wanted to live a long life, I wanted to see my kids grow up, grow old and see what they become, there is so much I still want to do myself both professionally and personally, but life goes by so fast and time just ticks away and the years seem to speed up the older you get, if my kids have their own children, I want to see them too! Being a musician can actually be a very unhealthy lifestyle, late night gigs can seriously mess up your natural body clock and it also creates bad eating habits such as late night takeaways! I was gigging a lot from about 14 years old to my mid 30s and I led a pretty unhealthy lifestyle full of takeaways and late nights! At the moment, I’m really healthy and touch wood I have no problems but being so close to the big 40 just made me stop and wonder if maybe my luck would run out! You can’t do anything without good health.

To achieve this new fitness mind set I needed a goal, and a big one. I work best under extreme pressure and overwhelming challenges. If I had to change my diet, start training, commit to the gym, jump in ice cold water baths, eat healthy food, then I’d need something to work towards. That’s when the idea of a Marathon came to me! It’s a bit of a bonkers idea really as when I thought of it I couldn’t run 100 yards! I was seriously unfit, exercise just wasn’t my thing and I’d never been a runner, I’d never ran 26 yards let alone 26 miles. I decided that running for a charity would be a great idea and it would push me on and give me the motivation I needed to succeed. Having this page, fundraising for charity would help me stay on track and stop me from quitting!

There was only one charity that I could think of that meant something to me and that was Crohn’s & Colitis UK. This is something that’s affected my life. My wife Laura was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis in her early 20s. This is a life long condition. Without going in to great detail, her immune system overworks and attacks itself and causes ulcers on develop on her bowel. During a bad flare ups it can bring on terrible symptoms such as sever stomach cramps, exhaustion, passing blood alongside many other things. It can affect someones personality and confidence especially in certain social settings.

No two cases of Crohn’s & Colitis are the same, everyone has a different experience requiring different treatment plans to help ease and control or suppress their symptoms. At the moment there is no cure. Anyone can get this at any age, you can wake up as a teenager or be in your mid 50s and your life will change overnight! Diet plays a massive role in controlling the condition, say goodbye to all those nice takeaways or a few casual drinks, late night fried food or popcorn at the cinema is all off the cards! The wrong food can lead to an almighty flare up lasting anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months! Even if Laura is in remission, going through a good patch and symptoms are managed all is not resolved because she would always have that fear of it returning which still affects your daily habits and choices.

All this being said, Laura has been a trooper, she’s never played the sick card and has always been very active, always looked after the kids night and day regardless of how she felt inside. I’ve seen her change her diet and lifestyle over the years to try and accommodate this condition and implement changes that help her stay in remission despite the impact it may have on your social life. She has definitely been far braver than I could have ever been. It’s funny what we take for granted sometimes that we don’t realise until a situation occurs or it’s taken away from us.

This Marathon is a chance for me to get fit, not take my own health for granted, and it’s my chance to raise money and help drive awareness for this horrible condition that millions of people worldwide suffer with. Hopefully one day they will find a cure and this money that I have raised will have played a small part towards the cost of that research. I understand times are hard right now, money is tight. If you can spare anything towards my challenge I would really appreciate it no matter how big or small. This is the first big thing I’ve ever done for charity and the biggest fitness challenge I’ve ever taken on. Thanks for reading, if you do leave a donation please include your name and maybe your Instagram handle (if you have one) so I can thank you personally.

Matt :)

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Official statement from the Charity

We’re the UK’s leading charity for Crohn’s and Colitis.

Right now, an estimated 500,000 people in the UK are living with a lifelong disease that many people have never heard of. And the real number could be almost double that.

Because of the stigma and misunderstanding surrounding these diseases, thousands of people are suffering in silence.

But they’re not alone.

We’re working to improve diagnosis and treatment, and to fund research into a cure; to raise awareness and to give people hope, comfort and confidence to live freer, fuller lives.