Iran 1,000 HALF MARATHONS

At an all-time low, Helen Ryvar, 44, ran her way to happiness

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When I opened my front door to find two police officers standing there, I realised that life was about to change.

It was February 2020, and instinctively, I knew something terrible had happened to my ex-husband, Julian, then 52.

The father of my three children - India, then 13, and twins, Marcus and Persia, 11 - Julian had suffered from depression, was a drink and drug user and to say we'd had a rocky relationship would have been an understatement.

We'd separated four years earlier, and it'd been far from amicable, but now, as one of the officers explained that Julian had been found dead after collapsing in the street, my heart broke for my children.

Sitting them down later that day and explaining their daddy had passed away was the hardest thing I'd ever had to do. They were completely grief-stricken and while all my energy went into them, I was struggling with my own emotions.

In the months that followed, I had to navigate life as a single parent, the sole breadwinner with a lot of financial baggage, and my confidence was at an all-time low. Knowing I had to rebuild our lives, I relocated us from Newcastle to north Wales to be closer to my parents.