Hemel woman's marathon challenge to raise thousands for Crohn's and Colitis UK

A woman from Hemel Hempstead has signed up to run this year's Virgin London Marathon to raise money for Crohn's and Colitis UK.

Robyn Shuck, of Grovehill, hopes to shine a lot on the charity that raises awareness of the inflammatory bowel disease.

The 28-year-old chose to run for the charity as a way of thanking them for the support they have given her cousin, Shannon Wheeler, who was diagnosed with Crohn's disease in 2008.

Robyn said: "For those that do not know it is an inflammatory bowel disease that causes chronic inflammation of your gastrointestinal tract.

"My goal is to raise £2,500 for the foundation.

"Shannon started her battle with Crohn’s at a young age and was diagnosed in 2008 which has been on going since.

"It's a disease that's not really spoken about, there's not much awareness of it and how it effects people.

"The charity is amazing, and I hope to reach my target to help them, but I also want to raise awareness the disease, Crohn's and Colitis UK and the work they do.

"I have done a raffle to raise money and people have come up to me and said that they think it's great that I'm raising awareness and money for this charity."

Robyn will take on the 26.2 mile challenge on Sunday, October 3, - organisers of the Virgin Money London Marathon are planning for 100,000 people to take part in this year's event, which will make it the biggest marathon ever staged.

She added: "I started running in the first lockdown and have raised money for the NHS and a friend of mine was diagnosed with cancer so I ran to raise money for Cancer Research UK. But this will definitely be the hardest challenge I have done."

To make a donation and help Robyn reach her target click here, and for more about Crohn's and Colitis UK visit: www.crohnsandcolitis.org.uk.