Well here goes!! Some of you are very aware (and some of you are probably not aware) I have been fighting the horrible Eating Disorder, Anorexia for many years. Anorexia is a serious mental health illness and I would not wish it on anyone in a million years. It is all consuming, taking up every second of your day with trying to battle the lack of self-worth, feelings of being a failure at everything and nothing you do being good enough. Negative thoughts, doubt and guilt for eating too much (even if it's the tiniest amount), not exercising enough, not wanting to be a burden to your family and friends and the list goes on. It impacts on your whole life and especially the lives of those close to you, even though they are the last people you want to hurt or cause problems to.

People often associate Anorexia with teenage girls 'seeking attention' and wanting to be stick thin, but this couldn't be further from the truth, it is a Mental Health illness! Anorexia is a life threatening illness. For each person there are different factors which contribute to its onset. In my case it wasn't until my late twenties that I became ill, and for me it started with me feeling my life was out of control, so I tried to gain some control in my life - I couldn't control anything else (work, relationships, death, illness, stress etc), but I could control my eating and exercise, and the exercise gave me something to focus on. Little did I know that 4 months down the line I was not controlling 'it' rather my Anorexia was totally controlling me!!!

I have managed my disorder reasonably well at times, being fairly stable for a while (weight restored, but still battling with it in my head, mentally), but there have been times where I have relapsed and rapidly gone down hill. Last October was one such occasion, I reached an all time low and ended up in Hospital, and since then I have fought hard to beat this all consuming, life controlling and restricting illness, to slowly gain steps towards recovery.

I have come a long way down the route of recovery over the past few months thanks to the help and support from my family, friends and an amazing charity called SAFA. I know I still have quite a way to go before I am fully recovered, but SAFA has provided me with support and counselling over the past 6 years, when the NHS has been unable to offer the help I needed at the times I needed it, due to long waiting lists and lack of funding for Mental Health Treatment/Therapy.

As many of you know I do love my running and this has been one of my focuses and driving forces for me to recover from my Anorexia, so I can do more running (safely, with minimal risk to my heart and bones from malnurishment), as well as try my hand at some Triathlons. So after many months of hard work and battling I am now strong enough and well enough to run my first Ultra Marathon. I have decided to run my first Ultra Marathon to raise funds for SAFA. I am passionate about raising funds for SAFA so they can continue their fantastic work, supporting youngsters and adults in Cumbria with Eating Disorders and other Mental Health issues, where other help through the NHS just isn't available. The Ultra Marathon I am doing is called 'Lakes in a Day', and involves me covering 50 miles (80 km) with 4000 m ascent from Caldbeck (north of Penrith) to Cartmel on Saturday 8th October (over Blencathra, Helvellyn, Fairfield etc) - yes I am rather crazy I know!!!!

This is going to be the most challenging run I've ever done, by far, and so I am hoping that now you've taken the time to read my story (and the fact that I am crazy enough to undertake this event, and have fought so hard to get myself back into a healthy enough state to do this) that you will be encourage to make any donation (no matter how big or small) to SAFA through this JustGiving page, so that other people in a similar situation to me might benefit from the help and support I have gained from SAFA.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for your support.

Tina xxx

P.S. And if you feel like coming and cheering me on at any point during the event, please message me and I can give you rough estimates of times I expect to be at certain places. It would definitely be nice to see some familiar faces along the route! X

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.