Running for Vasculitis UK

As some of you will know last year I ran a couple of marathons and an ultramarathon to raise funds for Vasculitis UK, a condition which my dad, unfortunately, suffers a rare form of called Churg-Strauss Syndrome. This has a severe impact on his day-to-day life, worsened by medical negligence throughout the pandemic, almost instantly stripping a fit and healthy man of the feeling of many nerves in his body, as well as damage to the heart and brain. Although he may be unable to work, drive or live an unassisted life, he constantly gets up every day and does his best to live as ordinary a life as possible. More details on the impact of the illness can be found on my previous fundraiser: https://www.facebook.com/MarkJennings7451/posts/pfbid02CoQMb9jLmQVvcSKfKjJyBEp5pQtENJ74c9XRPBDoLD8jJnuxkUjQny4zqr7CLkhcl

Two years on from diagnosis and I am still lucky to have my Dad in my life even if he does drive me insane half the time. There’s no one else I’d rather suffer with following Hearts around the country.

This year I wanted to go a step further in terms of challenging myself. The fact my Dad’s condition won’t get any better, and the likelihood is to worsen over time, makes me realise just how lucky I am to be fit and healthy, and the capabilities which the human body can achieve.

This year I have currently signed up to run the Alloa Half, Manchester Marathon and Ultra X Inverness 50k (https://ultra-x.co/scotland-50/).

However, my main fundraising event is in November where I will be running 110km in Morocco (https://ultra-x.co/morocco-110/), working my way around the city of Ouarzazate, known as the door of the desert. This will be over the duration of a couple of days and will involve camping out overnight before setting off for the second leg of the run.

The motivation for this comes from a result of seeing my Dad’s willingness to live as full of a life as possible despite what seems like endless setbacks and hospital visits/scans, and a couple of days running in pain is nothing for those who are permanently impacted by circumstances outwith their control.

I plan to post training updates on Strava if this is something that is of interest. Any donations and support are much appreciated, and go to helping research, support sufferers and fight this horrible disease.