38 year old Kat is taking on the illustrious Boston Marathon 2025 in April for Mencap. She lives in Bristol with her partner Jon, who is also taking on the London Marathon 2025. We asked Kat why she has decided to take on this challenge. “I’ve been working towards getting the 6 World Marathon Majors. Boston will be my 5th World Major Marathon with just Chicago to go next October. This will be my 7th marathon overall. Growing up I was never very sporty, hated PE and still find it hard to class myself as a ‘runner’. I never thought running a marathon would be achievable for me.”
“I ran my first marathon for charity in 2019, and it was definitely the fundraising aspect that kept me going when training got tough. I love running marathons for charity; meeting other charity runners and hearing their stories I find really inspiring.”
Why have you chosen to support Mencap for this incredible challenge? “I have previously worked supporting both adults and children with learning disabilities so have some
experience
Experience is when you have learned or tried something before.
of supporting individuals and their families with their daily struggles. People with a
learning disability
A learning disability is to do with the way someone's brain works. It makes it harder for someone to learn, understand or do things.
face barriers in so many aspects of life to achieving
equality
Equality is when everyone is treated fairly.
; from housing,
employment
Employment means having a job.
and
discrimination
Discrimination is when someone is treated differently (usually in a bad way) because of things like their disability or their
religion
Religion is to do with the things you believe about the world. For example you may believe there is a god or something else. Examples of religions are Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism.
.
from society.”
“Mencap is such an important charity- not just because of the direct support they provide, but also through their policy, campaigning,
research
Research is a way of finding out information which could come from books, or asking people what they think.
and raising awareness; tackling this issue at a societal level. They take a holistic, person-centred approach to making the world a better place for people with a learning disability. They provide life-changing work, and I feel incredibly privileged to be supporting them.”
How are you feeling about the challenge? Do you have any goals for the day? “I’m so excited to be running Boston! It’s one of the most iconic marathons- the world’s oldest annual marathon. Kathrine Switzer was also the first woman to run a marathon at Boston in the 60’s- it all feels very prestigious and full of tradition. Training through the winter is hard though- lots of Christmas parties and delicious food, not to mention the cold and the dark, but the fundraising aspect has kept me going- knowing that I’m helping in someway has gotten me out of bed at 5.30 into the gym! I came to terms with the fact that I’m not a fast runner long ago, so my goal for the day is to finish and enjoy it- to soak up the atmosphere. I’m aware it’s supposed to be quite hilly- there’s a hill at mile 20 called ‘Heartbreak Hill’ so if I can run up that without stopping I’ll be very happy.
We wish Kat the best of luck in her Boston Marathon and for the future to complete the 6 World Majors. What an incredible challenge to take on and we are honoured that you have chosen to support Mencap as part of your efforts to complete it.
Do you think you have what it takes to sign up to an international challenge? Take a look at the events on our
website
A website is a page you can go to on the internet like Google or YouTube.
with lots of choice from all over the world available. https://www.mencap.org.uk/events
By Mencap