Claire – you are an inspiration to all of us here at Wellbeing International! We are delighted to be supporting Young Lives vs Cancer as our charity of the month.
On the 2nd of October this year I ran the London Marathon. The date is significant because it was, coincidentally, exactly 4 years since my wee friend Lily was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. She was 5 years old. I watched from the sidelines as she endured 19 months of horrific treatment and I felt incredibly helpless as her family went through such an ordeal. Fortunately, Young Lives vs Cancer is a charity that supports families as they navigate life with a child battling cancer. So I embarked on a series of running challenges to raise money to help the charity that helped my friends. I eventually crossed the finish line of the London Marathon (in 3 hours 27minutes) – and on such a special date!
I ran over 3000 miles and raised over £5700 for Young Lives vs Cancer. It really was a tough challenge – but as I told myself so many times, it wasn’t as hard as cancer treatment and, unlike cancer treatment, I could stop at any time (obviously I didn’t!).
Now that I’ve completed my challenge, I feel proud (and relieved!) that I managed to do what I set out to, incredibly humbled that so many people helped me raise so much money for a very special charity, and am hugely grateful to Lily, who is blissfully unaware of what an inspiration she is!