Jodie grew up experiencing the effects of her Mum’s Type 1 diabetes. Through running with, TeamDUK she’s found another way to continue to show her support.
My Brighton Marathon story
Now aged 60, my mum has had Type 1 diabetes since the age of 15. I have lived my life seeing her go through ups and downs, hypers and hypos.
My first memory of diabetes is wanting to have my finger pricked like mummy and test my sugar. After the tears stopped I knew I never wanted to have diabetes.
"I know my running makes her proud and I wanted to give something back, not just to my Mum who has brought me and my brother up as a single mum, but also for a charity that offers support and guidance to people and researches a cure. If I could take away her diabetes I would, and so running for Diabetes UK is the next best thing."
Brighton marathon 2017 was a huge challenge for me. My training had gone pretty well and I was on track for a PB. My fundraising was also going well, giving me that extra motivation. I had joined a group on Facebook of marathon runners for Diabetes UK and these guys really inspired me and gave great advice. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the training day provided by Diabetes UK but they had been sending regular emails of support and training tips.
But on the day, everything that could go wrong did go wrong and I was faced with running 26.2 miles on the hottest day of the year, with no music, no way to track my pace and on an empty stomach.
It was a tough day and I was very worried about not having any support there with me. My family were unable to contact me as I had no phone and so my self-esteem was really low. But throughout the race I had various people calling my name, each time I looked for a familiar face it was someone from the Diabetes UK support team or Facebook page.
I managed to finish in a PB time of 4:04 and have taken so much away from the experience. I have a brilliant new bunch of friends who share my passion for running and I have a better perspective of diabetes. I know my body can accomplish so much more than I give it credit for and most of all I have made my Mum proud.
