Amy's half marathon for the Wilton-jones family

Officially, I hate running. But there's obviously something addictive about it. And once my husband Danny started running (as part of his amazing weight loss journey, have you seen him?!) It got a bit competitive and I did more and more until I could run a 10k. (Although unlike Danny, I have managed to eat enough to maintain my whale like image.) Then my Dad challenged me to run the Bath half marathon, and on boxing day after much wine, I agreed. It's definitely gonna be a challenge.

I hate running,

I hate sweating,

I hate people seeing me sweat

I hate people seeing me exercise

I hate exercising with other people

So yeah this should be fun......

I'm hoping that listening to the les mis soundtrack and raising money for some wonderful people will help get me round.

Enough whining about the running bit, here's who I'm raising money for:

The wilton-Jones family live on the same street as me. They're lovely neighbours who put packages in a safe place if they spot them outside my front door, let me know if I've left my garage open and always smile and wave when we pass each other in the area (often several times a day) Their daughter has been coming to my classes for a number of years and the family are so supportive of Ballyhoo.

In half term they suffered a huge trauma when Laura (the mum) had a large stroke. Here's Peter's words on what happened:

"On the first day of her half term holiday in Torquay and in the morning of her daughter's birthday, Laura suffered a stroke.

She was rushed to the local hospital for a CT scan to confirm it was a stroke.

She was then blue-lighted over to Plymouth hospital for an emergency thrombectomy.

She then remained in Plymouth for the next few days for her initial recovery until she was strong enough for the hour transport back to Torquay. Here her rehab began. A week later she was strong enough for her 4 hour transfer to Ysbty Ystrad Mynach. This has a specialist stroke rehabilitation ward with everything needed to assist stroke survivors to regain some or much normality back to their lives.

It is only early days and she is still relearning much. The stroke has affected much, including speech, memory, walking, comprehension and arm movement. She is doing well though and trying her hardest to recover."

I'm trying to raise some funds to help relieve some of the financial pressure this situation will bring for them. Laura is obviously unlable to work at the moment and Peter is with Laura every day at the hospital acting as her carer. I hope you can join me in helping this wonderful family.

Amy xx