I have alopecia areata which for me has always remained as patchy hair loss. I know some people with alopecia areata progress to alopecia universalis or totalis but that has never happened for me. In some strange way, I feel lucky to only have patches of hair loss on my head as opposed to losing everything. But that’s not to say that I haven’t found my patchy alopecia challenging at times.

I first realised I had alopecia when I was 15 years old. I went for a haircut with my dad, and I thought the barber has made a mistake and taken a chunk of hair out with the clippers at the back of my head. That wasn’t the case, it turned out to be alopecia & I remember not really wanting to go to school the next day.

After leaving school, when my alopecia got worse, I felt like the best thing to do was to shave my head. So, I did, the last night before I went to college. My thinking at the time was that it’s a bunch of new people and this is how they will know me, and if I want to wear a hat I can because, unlike school with its stricter uniform policy, college will allow me to wear whatever I wanted.

From then on, I shaved my head until the end of university. After I’d completed my studies at university, my hair started to grow again, and I thought I had maybe seen the back of the condition. However, around 5 years ago I had another flare up. It made me think about all the times when I had no hair loss, and I would complain about having a bad hair day. I took my hair for granted.

The biggest challenge I have experienced is how my alopecia affects my confidence every day, but I do think that, as I’ve got older, more people are aware of alopecia which has made it a little easier to deal with. Alopecia UK has played a big part in raising awareness. When I was first diagnosed, I didn’t know anyone who had it and, if anyone did have it, they weren’t talking about it.

If I could give some advice to my 15-year-old self it would be to tell him “No one else is thinking about your alopecia as much as you, and it does not define you”.

My contact with Alopecia UK over the years has connected me with more people who live with alopecia. During lockdown, I took part in a research study exploring the impact of alopecia on men. It led to new resources and advice specifically for men with alopecia and I am pleased to think that I helped create something that can help more men in the future.

In April, I am running the London Marathon for Alopecia UK. In all my contact with Alopecia UK over the years, I have found it to be a very supportive and helpful charity. Knowing that Alopecia UK didn’t have any 2025 London Marathon places, it makes me very proud to use my ballot place to fly the flag for such a great cause that can only continue to do the work it does with the support of people in its community.

I am turning 40 this year and I have my sights set on a sub 4 hour marathon time. I ran the London Marathon back in 2009 and it took my 5.5 hours. I was never happy with this time and so my motivation is to beat my 25 year old self!

If anyone is willing to throw a donation onto my fundraising page, I would greatly appreciate that, as I know would Alopecia UK.

Alopecia UK has places in the 2026 London Marathon. Check out our information page to find out more.