We never know where life is going to take us or what challenges it brings. In January 2010 I was happy, so happy I wanted to stay that way for as long as I could. I realised that if Ali and I wanted a long and healthy life together, we had to change. I was clinically obese, had a bad back and my knees were feeling the strain. I had various health problems and I was ageing faster than my years. I looked ahead to a life I did not want. It was time to change. By the end of the year I had lost 4 stone - 56lbs. My confidence rocketed - I had taken control and it had worked. I was exercising, enjoying buying clothes, speaking up for myself.

I began to believe in myself again, I began to dream. For years I had watched marathons with admiration and a lump in my throat. In April 2013, I ran my first marathon.

This blog is about living life as a slim person, staying slim and fulfilling my dreams. Come and join me, support me, advise me!



Take care, Sue

Sunday 19 June 2011

RACE FOR LIFE: MAKING HOPE HAPPEN

Well, I did it. Today I did the Race for Life in Edinburgh. 10K round Holyrood Park with some of the finest women on the planet. What a morning. 


This year I ran to celebrate and to mourn, friends and family who have survived and those who didn't. But I also ran in hope. Hope for friends and family who are currently having treatment; hope that more people will not even get it in the first place. Hope for a time when cancer isn't scary any more. Dare I hope for a time when we just don't get cancer? Is that possible? I hope it is. I know that every woman and girl (and the black lab who joined us today!) who ran round Arthur's Seat today got up that hill because of hope and love.

I don't know what's scientifically possible, I'm just a punter. But I do know that Race for Life is about making hope happen. The money we raise helps find cures and treatments. By running we raise awareness and hopefully make people think about how they can reduce the risks of getting cancer. By running Race for Life, we might also be helping ourselves. Keeping fit and healthy, keeping active, keeping a reasonable weight all help reduce the chances that we will get cancer, particularly women of a certain age, like me.

So, here's to all the thousands and thousands of women who've run Race for Life this year.

Also raise a glass to the marshalls, volunteers, warm up acts, well wishers and the lovely lady near the finishing line who cheered me on when I was ready to walk and helped me sprint over the line. Here's hoping that the money and hope that we have raised will make a difference. Here's hoping for a day when we don't have to do Race for Life anymore, when cancer is history.

Love, Sue