The London Marathon
5 Mar 2008
Laura Binns/PMS/The London Marathon - a Heroine in the Making
Laura's letter describes her problem, and an exciting solution.
"This is a story about two long hard journeys: one over 26 miles long and the other over 26 years long. So where shall I start?
"I started my periods when I was twelve years old and the first knowledge I had of PMT (as we called it then) was my mum saying to me: "You really play it up, don't you?" one month when I must have been pre-menstrual. I had no idea what she was talking about.
"Crunch time came at Christmas this year when the man I had been seeing for 18 months decided that he could no longer deal with my PMS and he finished our relationship. I decided that I HAD to do something. I was no longer going to let PMS rule (ruin!) my life. By this time I had found, with the help of my boyfriend, the www.pms.org.uk website. Having suffered with PMS for almost 30 years, finding this website pretty much saved my life. I'd tried many different products over the years (the pill, evening primrose oil, vitamin B6, HRT) but none of them seemed to work. By this time my PMS was affecting my work-life and I had never been able to maintain a relationship due to its damaging effects. At last I had a door that I could step through and know that hope was on the other side: potential treatments, people in the same boat, experts who could help. But how devastating to have only found all this help and information after suffering for 30 years!
"I started running when I was sixteen. Well, actually I started rowing and running was just part of the training. So after rowing for over 16 years, I've done a lot of running! The longest run we ever
did was 5 miles but a more usual distance would have been 3 miles. I also found running useful to do after I'd stopped rowing, as it doesn't require much equipment and it's very efficient use of time - you start as soon as you leave your front door and finish when you get back. Then a few years back I found myself working in a ski resort in New Zealand with no access to a gym and I started running a bit more seriously. When I came back to the U.K. I decided it would be a good idea to enter the London marathon. I was lucky enough to get a place to run in the London marathon 2008. I say "lucky" as it's over 5 times over-subscribed (for every person who gets a place, 4 others get turned down). This meant that I had my own place and could then choose whichever charity I wanted to run for. I knew straight away which charity I was going to run for.
"I'm determined to raise awareness of NAPS and www.pms.org.uk and even if only one person finds the site and gets the help they need, running 26+ will be worth it. And if I can raise funds at the same time, all the better. Please support me as much as you can. Thanks. And see you on Sunday, 13th April."
If you would like to support Laura, a cheque, payable to NAPS, can be sent to NAPS at 41 Old Road, East Peckham, Kent TN12 5AP, marked "Laura Binns" on the reverse, or sponsorship can be pledged through http://www.justgiving.com/laurabinns
SO - ALL YOU NAPS MEMBERS - CHEER FOR LAURA ON SUNDAY, 13TH APRIL, IN THE LONDON MARATHON!
