Jessica Mower and Sam Doran

Ipswich Half Marathon - 22nd September 2024. I have been a secondary school teacher for almost 7 years and witness the effects of mental health on both students and colleagues around me, including myself, every single day. I knew I would be raising money for mental health as soon as a signed up for the half marathon. 3 years ago I was in a car crash and ended up needing physio on a leg injury, which resulted in me no longer enjoying running. I made myself a vow to try and run twice a week in 2024, and have since ran my first 8/9/10k, taking part in my first 10k race in April (Colchester Stampede) and setting myself a new PB. This half marathon will be my biggest challenge yet! I will be running the Ipswich half marathon with my lovely fiancé Sam, who completed his first half marathon back in 2019! We get married in April 2025 and I turn 30 in September 2025, so I guess the half marathon will hopefully be ticked off of my 'things to do before I'm 30' list!