Every mile, her fight

My grandma had been living with diabetes for years. When her condition worsened, she ended up in hospital, and then had a heart attack. She fought for twelve days after that. Before all this, she used to come down to the track with me herself, sometimes joining in with a mix of running and walking.

At her funeral, the priest said that her fierce desire to live could be a model for how the rest of us live our own lives. That's when I decided to run, 10 miles at the Great South Run, then 13 at the Hoka Hackney Half, inspired by her fight. The first race falls right after both our birthdays: hers on the 1st, mine on the 7th. I usually fly home to spend her birthday with her.

I want to do something in her memory, and I'm scared the memories will start to fade. Running feels like a way to keep her close, since it's something we actually did together.

I'm raising money for Codebar, a charity that runs free coding workshops for people who wouldn't otherwise get the chance to learn, including women, LGBTQ+ people, and other underrepresented groups in tech. Their volunteer coaches gave me a way in when I didn't have one. It also feels like the right cause because of who my grandma was: a pillar in our community, always going out of her way to help people, including literally helping build homes for neighbours.

I'll be thinking of her at every mile. Thank you for reading this, and for anything you can give.