We are unbelievably grateful to busy keto mum and Daisy Garland Trustee, Sarah Barker, for signing up to run the London Marathon raising funds on our behalf. We will be cheering you along every single step of the way Sarah!

Good luck with your training. Please know that we are incredibly grateful for your unswerving support. You are an absolute gem!

To sponsor Sarah's run please click on the link below...

Sarah Barker London Marathon Run 2021

As well as training for this epic challenge Sarah has created this blog to share her experiences with us all...

8th February 2021

Uh-oh I didn't expect to actually get in to the London Marathon! Today is Isi's birthday! What a day to receive the news!  

I should start by saying that I entered the marathon on a whim - I've never wanted to run a marathon as it's a bit too far to comprehend and the amount of training required is simply ridiculous! I couldn't believe I got a place in the ballot, first time! There was no doubt over who I'll raise funds for - the most amazing charity that's helped our family no end: The Daisy Garland.

My 8 year old daughter, Isabelle, was diagnosed at 10 months old with a rare and catastrophic epilepsy called West Syndrome which damaged her brain and caused Global Developmental Delay.

The Daisy Garland has been a lifeline to our whole family in terms of ongoing emotional support and in providing a night time breathing monitor so that we can sleep at night knowing that she is at a much greatly reduced risk of SUDEP (Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy Patients).

The Daisy Garland also provides fully funded dieticians to the NHS so that Isabelle can use the incredible ketogenic diet as a form of treatment alongside three strong anticonvulsant epilepsy drugs. The ketogenic diet is often used as a last resort when medications or surgery do not control seizures as it is extremely strict and complicated. It cannot be undertaken safely without a referral from a paediatric consultant and without the guidance of a trained ketogenic dietician.

Isabelle started the ketogenic diet in December 2017 after eight different medications failed to bring seizure control. She was taking three of these strong medications at the maximum possible dosage and was still having 80-100 seizures each day. Incredibly, since starting the diet, Isabelle’s seizures have reduced to 5 a day and her cognition has hugely increased. Perhaps even more incredibly, over the following 18 months, we completely weaned her off those strong drugs and now, her epilepsy is only being managed using the ketogenic diet. It’s incredible what she has achieved, against all odds, and we are incredibly proud of her. This would never have been possible without The Daisy Garland providing the dietician to the NHS or the support to us and our family.

8th May 2021

 

Amazing race today for the South Devon Coastal Trail Series along the coast paths starting at Beesands, east of Salcombe. Difficult route and extremely busy, I actually got blown over!

 

8th June 2021

So now the 16 week official training programme that I've chosen to use has started and my main target is to run the whole distance and not to get injured during training (again!).

12th June 2021

That was tough! Endurance Life Coastal Trail Series 10k on the very hilly South West Coast Path. Beautiful scenery too! 

2nd July 2021

The problem with my hip flexor seems to have been fixed the last few months by regular visits to the chiropractor but I'm having real problems with my feet. I have hyper mobile joints so I'm trying to find ways to hold my joints together on my left foot. I'm finding a plantar fasciitis tight sock helps. 

 

10th July 2021

Cross training is once a week which is often a sea swim. Today my son Jack and I swam out to Buoy George with the Looe Sea Swimmers Group. It was a 900m swim! So proud of him!

 

17th July 2021

It ain't called the Haytor Heller for no reason! It's an absolutely hideous hard trail run. But it has stunning panoramic views and twice through the river to cool down! Plus it's incredibly well organised with friendly marshalls; one of my fave events.

23rd July 2021

The hardest Half Marathon I've done yet, pushing Isi in the buggy.  I hadn't planned to run with Isi but she was unable to attend school and I had to keep to my training plan!

31st July 2021

On New Year's Day, I set myself the challenge of (virtually!) running 621 miles along the South West Coast Path. 374 miles down, only 255 to go! I've just reached Fowey - not long until I reach Looe! I've completed 59% of the distance over 58% of the year so only very slightly ahead of target. This was before I found out I'd got a place in the London Marathon Ballot! Both tough challenges! 

10th August 2021

I'm using the Hal Higdon training programme and it's brutal. 

Please sponsor me!

Sarah Barker London Marathon Run 2021

11th August 2021

Today's training run... I ended up leaving them on a bench with a picnic and running up and down the path in front of of them to clock up the miles!

12th August 2021

When the most exciting thing arriving in the post is new running socks. Looking forward to trying out those crazy toe ones, but maybe not on a long run! 

13th August 2021

Training with Harry on his bike... He loved it and enjoyed repeating to me that I run even slower than a sloth!

  

14th August 2021

The most gruelling week so far! I started running with Sonia who has a charity place. We're hoping to run together on the day. I'm not sure whether I'm more chuffed about the mileage or the calories I used! 

27th August 2021

These hills nearly killed me! Alfie (the dog) didn't notice them one bit, he was still chasing squirrels! I was wobbly, cold and shivery when I got home. I clearly pushed myself too hard. But I got fuelling right. 

3rd September 2021

Here's me testing out my new kit and new hydration/fuelling with tailwind. This week's long was a 'short' run of 'only' 14 miles. I stupidly underprepared and the run was hard. Next week I have to run 40 miles, including a 20 mile long run! Arghhh! Then the taper begins and I'm really looking forward to that! Thanks to my running buddy, Sonia xx 

 

10th September 2021

My hardest marathon training this week yet - 41.5 miles in total! But mostly so chuffed with the 22 miles on Friday. It was hard but I finished it strong. The London Marathon is 3 weeks today! EEK! Please sponsor me by clicking on this link...

Sarah Barker London Marathon Run 2021

 

19th September 2021

Look at that grimace! A totally hideous run on an absolutely stunning beautiful route along the South West Coast Path from Par towards Fowey. I was supposed to run 12 miles but had to cut it short to 10. I'm tapering this week, as the marathon's in just 2 weeks. Eek! Weirdly I'm more tired and hungry than I've been but this may be a knock on effect from last week's 22 miler.

26th September 2021

This time next week it'll be 26.2 miles in London for the London Marathon. I'm nervous, unsure of what to expect, putting pressure on myself but also excited to do it and put my training to good use. I'm fit enough, I've trained really hard and I'm hoping the crowd will get me round when the mental game gets tough. Please donate if you can...

Sarah Barker London Marathon Run 2021