In British speak, we like to refer to today’s guest blogger as a ‘Nutter’. He runs ultra-marathons for fun – and to raise funds and awareness for diabetes, of course – and has the world’s most supportive family there to cheer him on whenever he crosses the finish line. Read more about our favourite runner’s antics on his inspirational blog and be sure to follow him on Twitter too. If you’d like to show your support for his next ultra running event, please click here or follow him on Facebook.

The last few weeks of October 2012 personally have been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster…Months of planning, training, hard work and preparation ahead of my next extreme challenge for diabetes in Gav’s GBR 30/30 Challenge resulted in a real kick in the balls for me! I suffered a tear to one of my left hamstring muscles in training, which has led to the event being postponed until Spring 2013. A week later I was graduating from the University of Greenwich with a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in Media Writing, which was something I’m very pleased with, given that I missed a lot of time from school during in my younger years and used to be in all the bottom classes, where I had low predictions.

I’ve always enjoyed beating odds though…

With November 2012 commencing, yes, the injury means an element of frustration as I am not going to be out there running 30 miles a day for 30 days covering the length of the United Kingdom for Diabetes UK and world diabetes awareness; however, all I can do is turn that setback into a positive and use the unwanted additional time to my advantage…I’ll be speaking diabetes in Dundee, Canterbury and Blackburn, at a sports awards ceremony in Thanet and also meeting up in Camden with young leaders of Diabetes UK. The chin’s staying up!

World Diabetes Day, in my own opinion, is every day. I appreciate the fact that there is a day in which we have an acknowledgment for diabetes in November 14th, however, in living with Type 1 diabetes – and to all those who have diabetes (Type 1 and 2) every day is World Diabetes Day in which our overall aim is to maintain control of our levels. That’s not in any way a negative either because I am who I am and every day it is diabetes that has to put up with living with me!

I don’t call diabetes a ‘disease’ as some medical professionals might because it is a cringy word to me; I am not diseased! So I refer to diabetes as a medical condition, and where I have good control of it, it is only a mere medical condition, a little scratch. And in this medical condition there can be many different problems faced: did I or didn’t I take my insulin injection – as Timesulin points out; no longer feeling the effects of hypos; HBA1c checkups and whether the levels are running too high or low; to name a few. Ultimately it is all about maintaining control.

The biggest problem is hard to point out. I’ve been fortunate to meet a few inspiring people who live with diabetes; a handful have had some public exposure and the majority have not had any, and I also know that there are a huge number out there hiding in the shadows who do great things – even you reading this possibly – and not many know a thing about it. What my challenge is mainly about is inviting those people to come out from the shadows in their local communities that I pass through and in any way join me to kick diabetes’ backside! For now it is the UK, in the future I target the world.

I think a main problem in diabetes is that people can’t see we have a medical condition and therefore not many acknowledge it as anything potentially serious.

I hope for every person living with diabetes will one day be cured and live happily ever after in some candy-floss filled paradise! But in all seriousness, I am not bothered in any negative form about living with diabetes. In fact, in a weird way, I kind of like it. I am the person who I am today because 13 years ago the doc said I had this diabetes thing! I wouldn’t have become the ultra-marathon runner who calls himself Diathlete, I wouldn’t have met some of the incredible people I have , nor have any kind of sponsors interested in me. In fact my achievements in life thus far wouldn’t be all that impressive at all if I didn’t have diabetes! The bottom line is that I’m happy with who I am in life and I wouldn’t want to change anything about being me, so to all those living with diabetes this is my message: You are unique, be proud of who you are too.

…And I hate candy-floss anyway!