Colchester Parkrun inspires woman with alopecia to take off wig

Linda Duncan, with running pal Gemma Nachman, has taken part in a 10k (6.2 mile) challenge without her wig, cap or headscarf

A woman who has had alopecia for more than 30 years said taking off her wig during Parkrun has given her a new-found sense of confidence.

Linda Duncan, 54, of Colchester, Essex, began losing her hair in her early 20s, while witnessing rocket attacks as a Northern Ireland police officer.

Initially, she used black permanent markers to try to hide the hair loss.

She said removing the wig has "made my life so much easier... people's reaction has been so positive".

The keen runner first started removing her wig because she was getting too hot in this summer's high temperatures.

This summer was so hot the mother-of-three began taking her wig off halfway through her regular runs with her local Parkrun

Ms Duncan was "devastated" when a dermatologist confirmed she would go bald and would also lose her eyebrows and eyelashes.

She began importing wigs to wear from the US - at more than £5,000 each - feeling there was little suitable choice in the UK.

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Once on a nightclub dancefloor, a man grabbed her wig "for a joke", leaving her feeling total "humiliation" and she "just ran from the club".

She "did not know how to tell anyone" when first diagnosed with alopecia, but says there is much more support available today

This summer, she swapped the wig for a cap or headscarf, before starting to run "bald" halfway through her local Parkrun.

On 11 September, she ran the entire event "bald" to raise awareness of alopecia.

Parkrun is a free, 5km (3 mile) event for runners of all abilities that takes place in dozens of locations across the UK every Saturday at 09:00 - all run by volunteers.

Ms Duncan, a member of Boxted Runners, has been thrilled by the positive response she has received after posting images of herself without hair on social media.

She said: "It will always be there, it's a vulnerability, but to find the courage to walk into the supermarket without my wig on is the kind of thing I would never have dreamt of in the past.

"Still to this day it is tough to deal with and I feel more confident when I have my wig on."