Sirona doctor and mum-of-two Angela Robinson is gearing up for her first full marathon to raise money for charity and celebrate her 40th birthday!
Angela, 39, from Failand, North Somerset, first started running after her husband, Andrew, was diagnosed with Lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph glands in 2014.
She said: “Luckily the cancer was confined to one side of his neck and it was treated with surgery and radiotherapy. However, there is a possibility that it could recur in the future”.
“My running started at the same time; I have never considered myself to be very sporty but wanted to challenge myself and try and raise some money for a fantastic cause in the process! I ran two half marathons two weeks apart after only a few months of training to raise £1500 for the charity Blood Wise, formerly Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research”.
“Since then, I have run a further two half marathons but this will be my first marathon. Given how gruelling the distance is, I have chosen the iconic London marathon in spring 2018 in case it is the only one I ever do!”
Angela, who has sons Ben, seven and Toby, four, works for Sirona care & health, a not-for-profit social enterprise providing health and care services in South Gloucestershire, Bristol and parts of Bath and North East Somerset.
She said: “I want to raise money for Age UK as through my work with the Sirona Frailty Service, I witness first-hand the impact of long term conditions such as dementia and heart failure on the lives of my patients. Social isolation, low mood and loss of independence are rife and this can lead to a spiral of decline, with increased risk of hospital admissions and permanent care home placements; moreover the strain on carers is immense.
“Sirona is committed to helping people stay as independent as possible in their own homes and Age UK provides a multitude of initiatives which help older people to do this; they operate advocacy services, dementia support, day centres and befriending schemes.
“With a growing elderly population, the work of Age UK really is invaluable. I am not a ‘natural’ runner and training for a marathon alongside work, family life and fund-raising is certainly going to be challenging.”
Angela’s personal best at a half marathon is two hours five minutes and she plans to run the Berkeley 20 miler and the inaugural Weston-super-Mare half marathon as part of her training schedule. She hopes to complete the half marathon in less than four and a half hours.
To find out more and to sponsor Angela who aims to raise £1850 – please visit her Just Giving Page.
