THE HE ALING POWER OF RUNNING
Growing up I always admired others who were good at running; it wasn’t until the end of my first year in university at the age of 18 that I had the courage to take it up myself.
I set my sights on the Orewa Half Marathon, and I loved the process of training and participating on the day of the event.
What I remember the most was looking out for my parents throughout the course and the moments that I got to hear their cheers.
Since then I’ve participated in the Taupo Great Lake Half Marathon and two half marathons in Alaska.
In the same year that I started running, I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis (UC), an inflammatory bowel disease.
I was diagnosed just after turning 18, I spent my eighteenth birthday experiencing my first flare, and I had no idea what was going on.
A UC flare can vary from person-to-person and flare-to-flare; they tend to consist of urgent bowel movements, loose stools, mucous, bleeding, discomfort and abdominal pain.
With that initial flare, I had to
