Meet the Wirral woman who took on a half marathon to support eating disorder charity

A woman from the Wirral who ran the Chester half-marathon to raise money for a charity that supports people living with eating disorders has expressed her gratitude for the over £500 donated to her cause.

Poppy Howard, 21, from Prenton took part in Sunday’s 21.1 km event in Chester City Centre and completed the marathon in just under three hours.

Poppy said:

“I’m not gonna lie, I didn’t even train for it. The most I’ve ever ran was 3k!

“I only posted about it a month ago. Lots of people got on board with me and helped me raise £530”

Poppy plans to donate all of the money raised to BEAT, a charity founded in 1989 with the mission of ending the pain and suffering caused by eating disorders.

She said:

“I’ve had an eating disorder for seven years, in times when I’ve been struggling quite badly with it, they’ve helped me over the phone. You can call them up, and they’re really good at helping people who suffer with eating disorders, and also families and friends of people with eating disorders. Eating disorders affect not just one person, but a whole support system aswell.”

According to the BEAT website, at least 1.25 million people in the UK suffer from eating disorders including bulimia, binge eating disorder, avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), other specified feeding or eating disorder (OSFED), and anorexia, which tragically has the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.

Poppy continued:

“I’ve been diagnosed with anorexia, bulimia and binge eating. It is hard, but my family supports me. Sometimes they don’t understand, sometimes your friends don’t understand and sometimes friends and family do say things that trigger you, but you need a good support system.”

“I was diagnosed first in 2019, I was doing the Duke of Edinburgh award and I used to eat quite a bit and I was always worried about my weight. I had sweets in my bag and I just never touched them and ever since that it’s been a rollercoaster. “

“A lot of it was about my weight and body image, but calorie counting is a massive one. When I was really bad last year, all my life consisted of weighing myself two or three times a day, (counting) calories and getting my 10,000 steps in. Numbers were taking over my entire life!”

“Coming to realise it now, I just needed to accept myself for what I looked like. It’s the biggest psychological challenge I’ve ever been through.”

Whilst the money for BEAT will go towards funding their life-saving work, Poppy wants to help the charity challenge the stereotypes that surround eating disorders.

She said:

“A lot of people think it’s just women, but anyone can develop an eating disorder, no matter your race, gender, sexuality or age.”

“Unfortunately, it does stick with you for life. I feel like I know this will stick with me for life, but it’s about getting to that point where you’re comfortable with your body and food doesn’t scare you anymore.”

Poppy also shared her advice for people who believe they may be developing an eating disorder:

“If it takes up a lot of your day, that’s a first warning. Picking at food and worrying about the scales and focusing on the numbers, feeling scared to go out with your friends and family for food, trying to get to a certain weight by a certain time, saying you’re sick or not hungry, and eating food that’s low in calories even if it doesn’t taste nice.”

Following on from Poppy’s inspirational achievement, she’s looking forward to other ways to raise money for BEAT

She said:

“I’d love to jump out of a plane! Don’t get me wrong, I’m in agony today, but I was thinking of doing the Liverpool Half Marathon next year, and I’ve signed up for the London Marathon next year too.

If you, or somebody you know is being affected by eating disorders, you can access BEAT’s resources on their website here. You can also donate to BEAT here.

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