I never thought I would be able to run 1 mile let alone 26! I used to watch the London Marathon on the TV every year as a child and would be in awe of all the runners, especially those in their charity vests and fancy dress costumes. To run such a distance and fundraise for a brilliant charity would be a dream but one that I never thought I would achieve.

 

Roll on a fair few years and like many I gave running a go during 2020 lockdown and discovered I quite liked it. As the distances grew longer I decided that maybe my dream was achievable, could I run a marathon? I love a challenge and I knew exactly which charity I would be proudly raising money for - Alopecia UK!

 

I’ve known Lara for all her life, we’ve been on tons of adventures together. She’s the kindest, most enthusiastic and utterly hilarious kid - with the most infectious laugh, so when she discovered she had alopecia we naturally worried that her confidence would take a huge hit with the change in her appearance.

And it has been hard, it still is hard, but Lara is living her life with such joy - she is still the kindest, most enthusiastic, utterly hilarious and I’ll add super cool and a little kooky kid - and she still has the most infectious laugh and boy does she laugh a lot! 

 

Fundraising for Alopecia UK is a big big thank you for all your help in supporting Lara navigate living her life with Alopecia. And I have never felt prouder running the Brighton marathon, our hometown, with Lara and so many loved ones, wearing my Alopecia UK charity vest loud and proud! 

From Lara (11 years old): 

I was very happy and proud of Marina for raising so much money for Alopecia UK. I was pleased that she picked Alopecia UK because it is very special to me as I have it.

I go to the Alopecia UK groups and enjoy them a lot.

Alopecia has really changed my life and that's why it was very special to me that Marina did that and I think that she did so well. I knew that she could do it!

At the time of publication, Marina's fundraising page has raised £800 for Alopecia UK. If you would like to leave a donation to you can visit her page here.