Way back in October 2016, a young woman from Canada applied for a vacancy at SV Sports Therapy... And the rest is history!
From the day she joined SV, Jess has been a complete superstar. Although the irony's not lost on us that when she found out that SV was an official London Marathon injury clinic, she said: "I hate running. Runners are crazy!!!"
Imagine our surprise when we found out in June 2017 that she'd bagged herself a place in the 2018 London Marathon, running for MS-UK.
Jess treated quite a few runners who ran the 2017 London Marathon and found their stories inspiring! She said that talking to SV's clients helped her believe that she could run a marathon too.
After a busy summer, involving a trip back to Canada and getting engaged (whoop!) - but not much running - Jess got in the training zone.
She attended sessions at The Running School in central London. At each session, the instructors worked with Jess to improve her running technique. The before and after videos are amazing!
And then in January, her marathon training moved up a gear when she started running with John Hanlon and his Orion Harriers marathon preparation group. 15 Sunday training runs between January and marathon day! John plans the routes, leads the group and gets the runners race-ready! He is a true legend!
Fast forward to Sunday 22 April, when Jess will be representing MS-UK, aka #teampurple at the 2018 London Marathon. Jess' dad was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 20 years ago, so it's a charity that's close to her heart.
All that's left for us to say is:
Jess - we love you and we're so very proud of you. We'll be waiting for you at mile 25 with our balloons and banners, and loads of jelly babies and percy pigs and some ice cubes.
Jess - run for MS-UK, run for your dad and run for you. Run with a smile and run with your heart.
All our love,
Sophie
PS Jess has almost reached her fundraising target. Let's help her bring it home!!!
