Story

Unfortunately, my Grandfather John passed away on April 3rd after being ill for some time. Ever since I was a little girl I remember him telling jokes and trying to make me laugh, however when he starting falling ill, the jokes were not as frequent. From this moment, I decided to start a small joke that I would mention whenever I saw him - "Are you running a marathon today Gramps?" (Which for the people who knew him was beyond impossible!) To which he often replied "Yep, I've just done my warm up so I'm sitting down to rest before the race" or "Of course, I beat my personal best today, fastest man!"

The final time I saw him was on the 26th of March where, unfortunately, he was in hospital. To try and remain calm I thought I would try the joke knowing that I probably wouldn't get a response. "Are you running a marathon today Gramps?" "For some reason, I don't think I'll manage a full marathon today so I think I'll just do half" - which of course made us all laugh.

So, in memory of the best Grandfather to ever live, I've decided to run a half marathon next year. ( I will one day run a full marathon but in the meantime, I'm starting with the half.) It is undecided which one as I have to fit it in with Uni, however, I will update you as soon as I have found one with an appropriate date.

I will be fundraising for two charities; the Southend Hospital Charity - as they cared for Grandad in his final days and we are so thankful for this - and the British Lung Foundation - as Gramps suffered from COPD and Emphysema and I would like to help others who suffer from these conditions.

I really appreciate any money that can be donated to these two brilliant charities. Thank you in advance.

Gramps, I'm doing this for you and I look forward to running your final race with you. I love you forever.

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