Running for Edward.

Hi, thanks for taking the time to read this story.

In April I'm running a marathon for the first time in my life to raise money for a special little boy and his family.

Edward is the 8-year-old son of CJ, one of my best friends since my school days. In May 2018, he was first diagnosed with a brain tumour and a month later my friends were told the tumour was an aggressive form of cancer and that Edward would need chemotherapy to treat it. Following treatment he had three and a half years clear of disease, unfortunately he relapsed in 2022.

Since then he's been in and out of Ipswich Hospital, Addenbrookes in Cambridge, and even over to Essen in Germany for weeks at a time receiving specialist treatment. He has endured MRI scans, proton radiotherapy, and, of course, more chemotherapy. He takes it all in his stride (mostly) and I'm so proud of the brave little boy he is.

Everything costs money, however, including his trips to Germany. So I'm raising money for them to spend on supporting Edward through his therapy, or things that would cheer them all up. In addition, they have had a number of charities that have supported them and they intend to repay some of the help they have been given. I want to make sure he and his siblings and parents can enjoy the time they have together when he's not in treatment, or exhausted with the side effects.

I've never run a marathon before, so this will be a new challenge for me. I've completed a few half marathons, which is good preparation, but thinking about Edward, my friend and his family will hopefully spur me on to a sub-4-hour time in Manchester.

I wasn't aware, but CJ has since told me that each time Edward goes through something significant, he is given a glass bead. Edward has many many glass beads, far too many for me to carry while on my run, but he will give me one to take on my journey, giving me a visual representation of why I am doing the run.

Please give whatever you can afford. Even just £1, it will count towards getting me off my bum to train, and helping to keep the smile on Edward's face.

If you'd like to follow Edwards journey, Edward’s mum keeps a Facebook page updated which can be found here ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/182987395749796/?ref=share )

Thank you