Joggers Journey - Natalie Harris

Our Joggers Journey winners

Natalie Harris

Natalie's story:

I was always one of those people who 'didn't run' and 'didn't exercise' and with good reason.

As a child and young person growing up, I was very unwell with an unknown digestive illness that meant my stomach was not digesting my food.

I spent months and years in and out of hospitals, had multiple operations and took trial drugs I was offered, in a bid to try to have some sort of normality in my life.

I was struggling to live, let alone exercise. Luckily, after having an experimental operation to implant a medical device to force my stomach to digest my food, I've been able to start having the 'normal life' I always dreamed of.

I recognise that I am so lucky, so now I run to celebrate all the amazing things that my body CAN do, after my life was defined by all the things my body COULDN'T do for so long.

That's why I want to run the London Marathon. To show myself how far I have come and what I can achieve. I may run a marathon for a charity one day, but this first one, this one is just for me.