Diabetes UK South West
Join team Diabetes UK in the 2012 Bath Half Marathon!
Diabetes UK is the largest organisation in the UK working for people with diabetes, funding research, campaigning and helping people live with the condition. Money raised from the 2012 Bath Half Marathon will go towards the Diabetes UK Research Fund.
All of our runners will receive a fundraising pack complete with a Diabetes UK running vest, a crazy hair head band and a gym sack. You will also get lots of fundraising support and advice along the way.
Please contact Zoe Steer on 01823 324007 or 01823 448260 or Email. We look forward to welcoming you to our team!
Fundraising history at the Bath Half
Over the past three years at the Bath Half we have had some great runners, who have raised a fantastic £10,000 for Diabetes UK. In the 2011 race Imogen Wilkins, a 23 year old medical student raised a wonderful £1,281.00 for our charity. Imogen choose to support Diabetes UK after her brother and sister, Pete and Florence, were both diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes develops when insulin-producing cells in the pancreas are destroyed. This type of diabetes usually appears before the age of 40. It is the least common of the two main types and accounts for around 10% of all people with diabetes. People with Type 1 diabetes have to take insulin either via a pump or by injections several times a day to stay alive.
Shortly after moving to London to complete the fourth year of her medical degree, Imogen was given the news that her sister Florence, then 11, had been admitted to hospital. Luckily, as Imogen's parents are both doctors they had recognised the symptoms of undiagnosed diabetes such as extreme tiredness, unexpected weight loss, frequent urination and blurred vision, early, before she fell in to a coma.
Since her diagnosis, Florence has been able to manage her diabetes while continuing to lead an active life, being captain of the netball team and a keen dancer.
Just 11 weeks after Florence's diagnosis, the family received a second shock when Imogen's brother Pete, 21, returned from university in Bristol and was admitted straight to hospital with dangerously high blood glucose levels and he too was diagnosed with diabetes. Imogen said: "Pete took the news in his stride. His chirpiness and sarcasm didn't leave a moment for anyone to mope or cry.
As a family we have become even closer. "I want to raise money for Diabetes UK to support research and to find a cure. I also want to help provide support to individuals and families, who will know even less about diabetes than we did at the time of diagnosis and who, like us, will simply never be prepared enough for such change. "The lifelong battle with diabetes is one that my siblings have both met with maximum change but minimal impact, but to do so needs great support."
Other races you can run in support of Diabetes UK.
We have places available in a number of runs across the country, including the Bristol Half Marathon the Great North Run, the London Marathon and many more. If you are interested in running for Diabetes UK in any other runs please contact us on 01823 324007 or at south.west@diabetes.org.uk for further information.