Hannah Webster - From Marathon Runner to Adaptive CrossFit Athlete: Living with Multiple Sclerosis

Hannah Webster is an adaptive CrossFit athlete, writer, and former PR executive who swapped corporate life for chaos somewhere along the Pembrokeshire coast.

Diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at 40, she underwent a stem cell transplant to reset her immune system — and has been navigating the unpredictable aftermath ever since. She now competes internationally in adaptive CrossFit, despite significant mobility challenges, including foot drop and what she describes as "one good leg on a good day."

A former marathon runner — with nine London Marathons, two Paris Marathons, and the Médoc Marathon under her belt — Hannah continues to wrestle with the loss of running and the reality of limited mobility, finding new ways to push herself through CrossFit.

Hannah is currently studying for a Master's in Creative Writing and working on her memoir, Still Standing, which blends dark humour with the reality of living in the uncomfortable middle ground between "fine" and "not fine at all." Whether she's training for competition, building a coffee van business, or questioning her life choices mid-workout, she brings honesty, grit, and a healthy dose of sarcasm to everything she does.

Hannah and her husband Neil have recently launched Great Escape Coffee Co. — a refurbished 20-year-old Land Rover Defender serving proper coffee to the Pembrokeshire community, sea swimmers, dog walkers, and anyone in need of a decent start to the day.

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Show notes

• Who is Hannah
• 46 years old
• Living in Pembrokeshire in Wales
• Moving after covid
• Being given a life changing diagnosis of Multiple sclerosis (MS)
• Growing up in Cheltenham
• Moving back to Wales for University 
• Spending 2.5 years travelling around the world 
• Moving to Spain to work on an newspaper 
• Always wanting to be a journalist 
• Ending up working in corporate PR and getting to travel the world 
• Getting diagnosed just before turning 40
• Running loads of marathons and half marathons 
• Running a half marathon and having her legs feel like jelly
• Knowing that something wasn't quite right 
• Going to see the Doctor a few times and having it put down to stress, travel etc 
• Getting referred to see a neurologist and having an MRI scan (December)
• Being called for a 2nd MRI (January)
• Not being able to remember much about the conversation 
• The shock and not knowing anyone else who has MS
• 6 years later and still not acce