Whilst in my first year of university, I met Charlotte in my halls of residence. She was a beautiful person, inside and out, and her personality just made you smile. Sadly, in December 2018, Charlotte suddenly went into cardiac arrest and passed away. It was such a shock to everyone that knew Charlotte and it made me want to raise awareness of cardiac risks amongst young people, particularly undiagnosed heart conditions. Around the same time, I started doing Couch to 5K to improve my overall health and started to love running. I took part in a few 5K races that summer, but I had the crazy idea to sign up for a half marathon and thought there would be no better charity to support than Cardiac Risk in the Young. Thinking about Charlotte every step of the way got me through all the training sessions and the race on 10th October 2021. It was such an amazing experience to run the Royal Parks Half Marathon, especially to see so many charity runners and to be able to raise over £600 for CRY.
-Bethany Andrews