Running away from 2025 and into 2026 and a Marathon. Bowel Research UK

On October 7th 2024 our 36 year old daughter Stephanie died, the end of 2024 passed in a blur. We went through most of 2025 in shock, in a daze, grieving, going through all the firsts, nothing getting easier, just a little more prepared to handle the bumps in the road, with a network of friends helping us navigate our way.

Marking the first anniversary of Stephanie's death was a turning point. I wanted to do something in Stephanie's memory and the one thing Stephanie could do for herself with total independence was to walk. So I signed up for an Ultra Challenge as close to the anniversary as I could and walked 15 miles across the Chilterns.

I trained whilst we were out in Australia visiting one of Stephanie's brothers who had flew home briefly for her funeral and we'd not seen for almost a year, I delayed starting my new job by 2 months.

Whilst in Australia we visited the MONA Museum in Tasmania to see the Poo Machine and I've used every opportunity I've had to promote Bowel Research UK who I'm raising awareness and fundraising for  as Stephanie died from Bowel Ischaemia. It causes around 3000 deaths a year in the UK and is almost impossible to diagnose.

On World Mental Health Day October 10th 2025, I signed up to the Brighton Marathon and started the Couch to 5k. 4 weeks later on November 8th 2025 I took part in my first parkrun at Chippenham Playing Fields in Monmouth. The following week the town was devastated by flooding but I was back at the parkrun on December 20th and on New Years Day I took part in one at Southsea.

I've joined a gym for endurance training and I run 2-3 times a week. I haven't run more than 5k, but I have been able to run/walk 9k and I've been mostly walking/running the Malvern Hills. On Wednesday I'm going along to my first running club evening.

I'm taking part in another Ultra Challenge in London walking a marathon on January 24th. My aim is to complete the route in under 8 hours, as the Brighton Marathon has a cut off of 8 hours to get a medal and along with raising funds and awareness that is my goal.

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I'd love it if you'd come running with me, if you have any training tips to share.

If you have any ideas to help me raise funds please let me know.

All help and support is welcome. I'm going to need it.

I’m linking up with Anne from Raisie Bay for Word of the Week.

What I read in 2025

I started challenging myself to reading a book a week in 2023 and continued into 2024.

Our daughter died suddenly in October 2024 and my love for reading among so many other things just stopped.

And like so many other things, it's taken a long time to get going ago, to do the things I loved to do when I had 5 minutes to them.

I wasted so much time after Stephanie's death, so much time with 'We could be with Stephanie now, but we can't' and I spent hours in the first few months, doing nothing, staring into space, lying in bed, doing absolutely nothing.

I returned to work, part time initially, then slowly a routine, with elements of our old life starting filling our time again, days out, going places where we took Stephanie became visiting places that we couldn't take Stephanie due to her disability. We didn't find things to do to replace her, we found that we just started living again without her.

I was tutoring English in a secondary school from year 7 up to GCSE, I supported a student with English Literature at A Level from 2022-2023.

I read a few books from October 2024 till March 2025, but in April I started again with a book a week and here we are, the middle of July on book no 30 and raring to go for the rest of the year.

Updated again in October and I had just started reading book no 41 in week 41 of the year, so finally back on track. 

I didn't hit my challenge of 53 books for the year, but I wasn't far off with 47 and I'm happy with what I did read. I'll carry on in 2026. I've joined a book club now in work, that should help.

January

February

There has been lots of reading with the grandchildren.

And new books bought

I've taken to buying my books from National Trust properties and after I've circulated them around family and friends they'll be donated back there.

One of the things I enjoy doing is looking for unusual titles in the National Trust properties.

Books read for work - re reads:

Treasure Island - Tutor Read in School
Macbeth
The Tempest
Romeo and Juliet
Lord of the Flies
A Christmas Carol

New Reads:
Julius Caesar - William Shakespeare 

March

April

May

June 

I tweeted the author after finishing this book in the DI Claire Mackay series, I was pleased when she responded.

I started this book the beginning of June. I however left the book on a plane and had to order a replacement which I finished later in the month.

July 

Richard Osman - We Solve Murders.

My current read, turns out, I'd only read half of it last year.

August and September

We travelled to Australia for 3 weeks then spent 4 nights in Dubai. I had space in my case for 7 books and Peter took 3. I met a woman in a local cafe who I gave my books to when I'd finished reading them, she gave me one of hers, I did a book swop in a hotel in Tasmania and I read 1 of Peter's also. Unfortunately I didn't take a photo of all the books I read, so I can only claim these as holiday reads.

I loved these little libraries in Tasmania at the end of people's driveways.

My book swop

Left behind in Tasmania.

My favourite place in the world to drink coffee and read.

I started this on the plane on the way home.

October

If I've really enjoyed a book, which is most of them, I hand them over to my friend. Other books that I know she won't enjoy or I've found hard going I've been dropping into National Trust properties where I've been picking books up from when we've visited. I also pick books up from charity shops and swop books regularly with my mum and have a system in place to ensure we don't keep swopping the same books back and forth.

November

December

I lined these books up for reading in December and it put me off for the first two weeks then I thought, NO, I've already read 43 books this year. I'm not going to read 53, but who cares? It's a self imposed challenge and once I took the pressure off myself I got through another 4 and finished the year on 47 books.

What did you read in 2025?