My Story

As most of you who will be visiting this page already know, I have a very sporty thirteen year old daughter with Down syndrome.   Years ago when it asked about Emmeline's hopes and dreams for the future in the "All About Me" section of her Education Health Care Plan, one of the many things we mentioned is that we could see her competing in Special Olympics some day.  That bullet point is still in her EHCP and we feel even more strongly about it now.  As Emmeline says so herself, "this girl is on fire!".  Yes, she is!

We live in central London and every year we make a day out of going to cheer on the marathon runners.  One of my favourite days of the year! Last year we had a couple of friends from London running, but we especially had our eyes on the lookout for Lloyd and Chris, two young men with Down syndrome running that day.  We saw both of them on the course twice that day and had a chance to quickly chat with Lloyd's mum who was running with him, as Lloyd danced and hyped up the crowd.   A highlight!  Of course, I was completlely inspired by Lloyd and Chris' spirit and determination, but to be honest, mostly inspired by Lloyd's mum, Ceri!  Emmeline is a runner! We are regulars at the track where she cycles while I run, hopping off her bicycle every few laps to join me for a run - repeat sprint 200s.  :). But maybe someday she will progress to a long distance runner and we can do a marathon together too.  :)

I've chosen to raise money for Special Olympics Great Britain in support of athletes like Lloyd and Emmeline!

* My profile pic on this page is Emmeline and I at the track on one of my London marathon training runs. : )

* The banner pic is Emmeline cheering at the London marathon last year.