Banbury local challenges themself to take on 100km ultramarathon after battling serious illness for a decade
A Banbury local who has lived with several serious health conditions for over a decade has challenged themself to take on a 100km ultramarathon to raise money for charity and awareness of lesser-known health conditions.
Aimee de Gruchy-Lambert has lived with chronic and debilitating health conditions since 2012.
They first began to seriously struggle with her health when studying as an undergraduate at Oxford University.
Since then Aimee has been diagnosed with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which causes pain in her joints, skin bruising and slow wound recovery.
The mother-of-one has also been diagnosed with the neurological conditions chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia and functional neurological syndrome.
Aimee said: “I went from studying at Oxford to not being able to follow a normal book or remember words.
“I also had a lot of pain just trying to move around, and over time the fatigue from just doing daily activities really increased.”
Aimee lived with the conditions for several years and even began a career in Japan before the illnesses became too overwhelming and she was forced to return to England.
They said: “My condition became so strong that I couldn’t cope with full-time work. I was getting constant piercing headaches, dizziness, hives rashes and anytime I was off work, I would just be sleeping.”
Since returning to England, Aimee’s health conditions became so profuse that she was forced to stop working, which resulted in them suffering from poor mental health.
This led Aimee to become housebound for several years and consider getting a wheelchair because she had lost her confidence in travelling outside.
After several years of their condition getting progressively worse and their life being turned completely upside down, Aimee started deep research into her conditions.
Two years ago, Aimee was also diagnosed with ADHD, which led them to become more aware of the causes behind some of the health conditions that had affected her throughout her life.
She said: “Lots of the things that have caused me mental fatigue and stress and subsequently resulted in these neurological conditions stem from my undiagnosed ADHD.
“I didn’t realise what things would tire me out or what I would need to do to organise my life so that things were more possible and doable.
“I was under an extreme level of stress because I had very high expectations of myself but always felt as if I had to work three times as hard as anyone else.”
Aimee then found herself at a crisis point in 2023; with several stressful issues in her life making her condition worse, they began to despair at her situation.
They said: “I began to feel like a real burden to everyone in my life, and I had thoughts of not knowing whether I wanted to continue living if I had to stay as I was.”
This led Aimee to research alternative medicines and treatments, which resulted in them completing a 23-day fast where she only drank water.
The fast became a turning point in Aimee’s life, and they soon began noticing a real change in her physical health.
Aimee said: “I only drank water for 23 days, and it really helped me reset my immune system and helped my body go into a deep healing mode.
“It made a massive difference to me, my levels of inflammation went down completely. My pain levels have been consistently better since then. I still have bad days, but I have completely come off my strongest pain medication.”
Since the fast, Aimee has been challenging herself to go outside regularly and walk and then run further and further distances.
Aimee added: “I have always loved running since growing up in the countryside and I wanted to do something where I could see improvement.”
It started with short walks along the Oxford Canal in Banbury, which eventually led to Aimee completing several 10k running races.
Last October, Aimee took on the Oxford Half Marathon, something they had dreamt about doing since studying in the city.
They said: “I went from being able to walk about five kilometres at the beginning of the year to completing a half marathon months later.
“Now what I want to do is multiply that distance by five again and complete the 100km Race to the Stones ultramarathon in July.”
The Race to the Stones is one of the most well-known ultramarathons in the UK and requires participants to follow the scenic Ridgeway ancient road from Lewknor, Oxfordshire, to the iconic Avebury Standing Stones in Wiltshire.
Aimee’s incredible recovery journey has not left them without fears that they may return to the state of poor health they found herself in just a few years ago.
They said: “I still have concerns that I won’t stay healthy or that I deserve to be healthy, I was so ill for a decade that it’s hard for my mind to process that I’m ok now and that I’m not a burden on people.
“I also struggle with feelings that I have had so much help and support that I don’t deserve to do something that only a very small percentage of healthy people want to do.
"However, it is important to raise money for charity, and hopefully I can inspire others that no matter how bad things are mentally or physically, there is a possibility of hope and finding a path to recovery.
Alongside taking on the challenge of a lifetime, Aimee hopes to raise vital funds for The Brain Charity, a group that has supported them in the past.
The Brain Charity is a nationwide organisation that helps people with a broad range of neurological conditions live longer and healthier lives.
For more information about Aimee’s journey or to support her Race to the Stones fundraiser challenge for The Brain Charity, visit