Starting out - with a little help

Getting started is always the hardest thing.  Getting out of bed, starting a new job, trying to start my old work van, starting a run on a cold dark night. Or trying to start a challenge like running 5000 miles for autism.

It started as a mad idea. I thought: could I get a group together to run and spread awareness of autism? Do I have enough friends who run, or who are as committed as I am to running and raising the profile of autism in the UK?

The answer, I found, is undoubtedly, unequivocally YES!!!   I've been overwhelmed by the response,  warmed by the messages of support and amazed by friends' compassion.

I cannot put into words how good it feels to see my son Logan's name being mentioned on friends' Facebook posts and Twitter updates and to then see people commenting and asking to get involved.
 
Already awareness is spreading - this blog page is emerging and our small, growing team of runners has notched up a total already above 700 miles. Our team so far includes people as diverse as a nurse, a territorial army veteran of Afghanistan, a welding engineer, a couple of authors and a few of my close family.  All amazing friends who have joined in the challenge.

So onwards we go towards the total and the task of spreading awareness.  I will be regularly posting blogs on here and on other social media outlets. I'll be asking our team to write their stories on here too.  We are also working closely with the National Autistic Society - more on that soon I hope.

Starting out is always the hardest thing. But with help from wonderful friends it's a bit easier.

It's nice to meet you!

Welcome to the collective.

We are parents, carers, aunties, uncles, brothers, sisters, cousins and friends of people with autism.

We are also runners.

This year we are aiming to run 5000 miles between us, and along the way raise awareness of autism.

We will be running in the mornings and the evenings, during the week and at the weekend; in the sun and the rain and the frost and the fog; along coastlines and city streets and through forests.

We won't stop and we won't take days off. The people we are running for don't get to take days off.

Autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects how a person communicates with, and relates to, other people. It also affects how they make sense of the world around them.

It is a spectrum condition, which means that, while all people with autism share certain difficulties, their condition will affect them in different ways. Some people with autism are able to live relatively independent lives but others may have accompanying learning difficulties and need a lifetime of specialist support. People with autism may also experience over- or under-sensitivity to sounds, touch, tastes, smells, light or colours.

Being autistic means being wired differently. It doesn't mean life can't still be fulfilling and fun. 

We will be telling stories as we run: sharing entries on here about our routes and our families and our lives.

Join us, and run with us, and share with us. Together we can run further and shout louder.

Picture by Grace