Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

For the past six years I have unsuccessfully entered the ballot for the London Marathon and finally this year, when convalescing following an operation, I got in. My training began from a standing start in January and I have worked hard to achieve the required training distances over a few short months.

This is an event I only plan on doing once, so I decided it would be the perfect opportunity to raise some money for a cause that's very close to my heart.

I suffered with post-natal depression in the early 90s, and the lack of good mental health support in those days meant that I continued to suffer for a long time After many years of taking my "sunshine tablets" as a sticking plaster, I was eventually referred to a counsellor to address the issue properly. 

It was around this time that I began going to Parkrun, under duress, as my daughter's chaperone and after a few months not only was my weight evaporating but my mood was lifting too. 

The combination of proper mental health care, exercise and an ever expanding social circle brought about through running has enabled me to come off anti-depressants altogether.

In recent years the stigma of mental health issues has been broken down thanks to the work of charities like Mind, and I realise how much more quickly I could have recovered with the kind of one to one support they offer.

I am using my new-found fitness and positivity to take on this huge physical and mental feat in the hope that, by supporting this worthy charity, in the future, other people won't have to go through what I did.

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