My Story

Hi everyone!

I have been extremely lucky to be offered a place to run in the 2026 TCS London Marathon by Autistica.

For many years I have felt on the outside of things and not fully understood why. I have had good support and connections, and have always had the time to use coping strategies unknowingly. But in 2023 Alba was born and this made it difficult to have downtime to myself and I was really noticing that I was struggling with almost everything. I didn't want this continue so sought some answers.

In late 2024 I was diagnosed with Autism. This was both a surprise but also really not a surprise. On reflection there have been signs or traits quite clearly presented over the years but the dots have never connected. Finding out what Alexithymia is has been a real eye opener! It also turns out I now understand why I hate summer so much, even though everyone else seems to love the giant ball of fire in the sky and not sleeping for months - weird!

Whilst this diagnosis has given me some understanding and self compassion - it has still left me with lots of questions to answer and a lot of time to reflect on. It is quite the realisation to think that I have been operating as an Android in a world built for Apple!

Autistica are a brilliant charity who campaign and fundraise for autism research. They push for change and offer support for autistic people and the communities around them. They put autistic people at the heart of what they do, and they have been extremely valuable to me. 

I am grateful for the opportunity to run and fundraise for them, but also am hopeful that this training journey will also help me move forward on my autism journey. As so far I feel I have shuffled forward, rather than stepped.

Thanks for reading - and please consider donating if you are able to do so!