Northampton woman to run half marathon and give back to charity for support following five miscarriages

A Northampton woman is soon to run a half marathon, to give back to a charity for its continued support following five miscarriages.

Amie Nimmo, 41, ran her first London Landmarks Half Marathon in 2019 after she suffered a missed miscarriage two years earlier.

Amie found joy in running as it was something both she and her husband could do together, and in aid of the Tommy’s baby charity to say thank you for their support.

“Our story is complex and there’s a lot that goes into our fertility journey,” said Amie, from Lower Harlestone. “We started trying for a family seven years ago and in that time we have suffered five losses.

“It’s been a really difficult time and we’ve also had two rounds of IVF. All of the losses were natural pregnancies and our two cycles of IVF were both unsuccessful. It’s been a rollercoaster.”

The most recent miscarriage was at the end of November, after Amie had secured her ballot place for the London Landmarks Half Marathon in April 2024.

Amie said: “I fell pregnant in October with our fifth pregnancy and I was hoping I wouldn’t be able to do the half marathon as I would’ve been seven months pregnant. We lost the baby after nine weeks. After Christmas I needed something to focus on to get me through.”

Though Amie does not have to raise money as part of her ballot place, she knew she wanted to for Tommy’s and the recurrent miscarriage research team that has helped her and her husband over the years.

“Tommy’s has been such an amazing charity with the support, knowledge and information it offers about baby loss and premature births,” said Amie, who received advice from a leading consultant in recurrent miscarriage and had surgery that they hoped would have a positive impact.

Amie began running in 2016 and has used it as an outlet throughout her journey to improve her mental and physical health.

Two-and-a-half years ago she began suffering pain and issues with her spine and hips and was told to stop running completely.

“It knocked me sideways,” Amie told the Chronicle & Echo. “It was a huge outlet.”

After the professionals found multiple injuries, Amie stripped everything back and started physio with a sports therapist – who had “so much confidence” that she would one day run again.

Having done a full marathon hike last year for charity and started to run again in the summer, Amie then had to stop when she fell pregnant in October.

The 41-year-old will complete the London Landmarks Half Marathon on April 7, alongside the other 18,000 runners expected to take part – making it the biggest to date.

Amie said: “Going through baby loss at any stage can really knock you sideways – losing confidence in many ways and feeling like your body is failing you. It takes a lot to pick yourself back up each time.

“I reached a really low point navigating our fertility journey and losses at one stage, when I wasn't able to run and rebuild that confidence in me again in a way I could usually control. Doing the LLHM will mean even more this time around.”