Earlier this year I ran the London Marathon for a charity – National Association for Colitis and Crohns – which helps people like myself who have either disease.

I’ve had Ulcerative Colitis for 11 years.

Ever since I got back from a holiday in Mexico where I had food poisoning my guts have never been quite right.

Basically the infection kicked off what is a generic condition where you end up with an over-active immune system.

Your guts constantly think they’re being attacked and so are on red alert – with dire circumstances!

For the last 7 years I’ve been taking immunosuppressant drugs, the sort they give transplant patients to stop them rejecting their organs, and I’ve been fine.

But those kind of drugs aren’t great in chronic conditions, so a few weeks ago I went for a colonoscopy and was given the all clear.

My colitis is in remission!

I’m now part of a trial where I’m undergoing hypnotherapy every week because they’ve discovered a link between IDB and stress!

Hopefully this’ll work and it’ll never flare up again but at least I’ve gone from taking 8 pills a day to only taking 4, my immune system is back to what it was 7 years ago and I don’t have to be so worried about the long term effects of the drugs.

I heard from the NACC yesterday that we raised the most out of the 30 NACC runners in the marathon this year, contributing nearly £8k to a £46k pot which will go to help fund research and support for folks a lot worse off than I am.

Thanks again to everyone who supported me and here’s to the next 7 years!