Who am I

I am Valentine Michel a Swiss living in London for the past three years. I started running at the end of summer 2018 because my friends signed me up for my first-ever 10k race on my birthday. 

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At the time, I didn’t even know what 1k felt like. During my first "training session", it was warm, I found it extremely difficult. When someone asked me how far I had run, I sincerely thought I had covered nearly 20k… but in reality, I had only managed 2,5.

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Since then, running has helped me maintain emotional balance and has become an important part of my social life. When I moved to London, it helped me build a circle of friends. After my diagnosis, it also became a way to manage my emotions, as much as the pain allowed me to run.

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Today, I am running the London Marathon not only to raise funds and support the medical research but also to raise awareness and share my story. Diagnoses can often take a long time, and early treatment is crucial.