On 20th October I will be taking part in my first ever Ironman 70.3 in Porec Croatia raising money for two amazing charities; Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice and Leukeamia Care,

Both charities are very close to my heart - Phyllis Tuckwell is the hospice that supported with dad's end of life care in 2020 and Leukeamia Care provided mum much needed support as we navigated through her second cancer, a rare leukeamia known as Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia in 2022/23.

I'd always promised Dad I would push myself out of my comfort zone and take on a challenge before my 30th so I decided that choosing 3 sports I was equally mediocre at would be a perfect start. For context, at the start of 2024 I had never run more than 5k, was a very average cyclist and couldn't swim more than 50m freestyle, so completing a 1.9k swim, 90k cycle and 21.1k run in one go was always going to be a steep learning curve. However, I have absolutely loved every minute of this journey and it has helped me gain so much confidence back in myself which I'd lost over the last few years.

Whilst I know Dad will be ringing a cow bell (very) loudly from above, I am very grateful to have my mum coming out to Croatia - let's see if her photography skills improve and she manages to see me at any point on the course!

Thank you for all your support

Liv xx