Lincoln 10K & Cakey Goodness

Sunday saw the Lincoln 10K race which the boyfriend took part in to go towards his 1000km challenge. I think I've only mentioned it once on this blog, but I suffer from severe eczema and so my boyfriend has taken it upon himself to raise both money and awareness for other sufferers who don't have someone like him to support them. He really is such a sweet and selfless person and I'm so grateful that I do have him to lean on when times are tough - which they have been for a very long time now.

    Considering I live in Lincoln, it took us around 1hr and 20 minutes just to get the car parked. Here Shane is trying to stay positive that we would make it to the race on time.  When we finally did get there I took a quick pic of him being (un)lucky number 13. Considering there were 5,500 people entered in the race that's a bloody ridiculously good running number!   Managed to catch him defying gravity :p and also after with both cathedral and castle wall in the background whilst sporting his medal. I'm incredibly proud of him. He reached a new personal best of 40 mins 56 secs. What a champ. 

And what better way to celebrate than with a slice of cake from Bunty's? If ever you're in Lincoln please do check them out. The cakes are all made by hand with lots of love and care to create a slice of heaven that is served as a generous size - perfect for us cake fiends. Not to mention Matt & Jenny, the faces behind the business, are two of the most loveliest, friendliest people you could ever wish to meet! The decor is vintage themed with many knick knacks to feast your eyes upon and everything is served on vintage crockery. What more could you ask for?

Please ignore my face! I look like a bedraggled mess and was suffering a flare at the time but the toffee cake was too good and deserved a thumbs up. Shane devoured their lemon cake and agreed that it was very nom-worthy :D Thanks Bunty's!

If you wish to sponsor Shane's efforts please do so here: http://www.justgiving.com/shanes1000km or you can text "RACE55 £1" to 70070.* At the end of the day what is 1 measly pound to you? If everyone donated £1 imagine how much closer we could be to finding a cure for this horrible, often debilitating, condition. If you want to read more about my own story of living with eczema you can read my eczema blog here. Thank you :)

*All proceeds go to the National Eczema Society to help raise awareness and pave the way in finding a cure for eczema.

Running for Eczema & Radio Interview!!

*edited post*

Tomorrow morning the boyfriend and I will be talking on BBC Radio Lincolnshire about the tolls of living with severe eczema and how we endeavor to raise money for the National Eczema Society.

People don't really look at eczema as being a life changing condition. It just tends to be regarded a minor annoyance that may appear from time to time, usually in winter months or during times of stress. I want to make people aware that  eczema can be a debilitating illness and literally does take over; preventing leading what may be deemed a "normal" lifestyle as it can often make carrying out day to day activities impossible, or at best restrictive.

This picture basically sums up what a lot of people say to me when they notice I have eczema. It just shows a level of sheer ignorance on their behalf. What may work for some people, doesn't necessarily work for everyone. When I inform them that I see a dermatologist at LEAST once a month and that I'm taking medication that can cause other serious health problems because I've tried everything else they pretty much shut up.

We want to give the cause more awareness and to raise money to aid science in finding a cure. Eczema isn't always just a little patch of inflamed, itching skin in the elbow flexture, nor does it just occur in children. 1/5 children have eczema and 1/12 adults have it, but there is only a minority of us that will suffer chronically and find it debilitating.

But onto the aim of funding the cause...! My boyfriend, Shane Nicholl, who has a keen passion for running, will be partaking in various races over the course of the year where he will complete 1000km in distance. He's told me it's his little way of showing that he would literally run to the end of the earth for me to see me get better :)

To follow his efforts you can find him on Facebook or on Twitter! :)

And to sponsor his page is: http://www.justgiving.com/shanes1000km

Here is the radio interview for those who would like to listen :) Listen from 1:15 onwards!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0128s1g