Just got back from New York and WE DID IT!!  The people of New York were amazing, supporting us along the marathon route with live music, cheering and snacks & drink to help us on our way. Each of the c 37,000 runners has their own personal reason for being there and many good causes were represented; in all it was a very emotional and uplifting experience. Very proud of Graham who, as a veteran of the marathon, completed this 26.2 after suffering a heart attack 3 years ago.

Thanks again to everyone for being so supportive over the past few months. Now all that remains is to make the final steps to meeting my target (all support still welcome) and to get these legs back in working order!

My race time was 4 hours 47 minutes and 1 second. It was over in an instant and I would do it again in a millisecond.

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Thank you for visiting my fundraising page. Please dig deep and sponsor me online. My Step-Dad Graham and I are running the New York Marathon in November to raise money for the Alzheimer's Society.

Dementia currently affects over 750,000 people in the UK. Approximately 18,000 people with dementia are under the age of 65, and the number of people with dementia is steadily increasing. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, making up 55 per cent of all cases of dementia. There are nearly 18 million people with dementia in the world.

Through your donations the Alzheimer's Society is able to provide care to sufferers, their families and carers, as well as perform vital research. I know that my family would have benefited enormously from the work of the Society when my beautiful Gran was affected by dementia.

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Alzheimer's Society will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.

So please sponsor me now!

Many thanks for your support. It is very much appreciated.  

P.S. I will be keeping this site up to date with my training progress - having never run further than about 6.6 miles/10km (and that was half my lifetime ago!) this is a whole new world to me, but so far so good!! I'm doing 4 miles at least every other day, so only 22 to add on... ... You can also check out Graham's page at www.justgiving.com/grahamdavidsonNY 

02/10 - 5 weeks and counting… Yesterday I ran 19 miles, which feels great, as I am now getting closer to the full marathon distance and know that it is within reach. Afterwards is when the real pain comes as the battered body struggles to get up and down stairs or even out of a chair! Next long run is in 2 weeks (around 21 miles) and then the taper down to marathon day on 5^th November. Have a couple more events planned in October to boost the fundraising and help us move towards our target – please forward this website address onto anyone might contribute to this worthy cause, much appreciated!

04/09 – Two calendar months to go and we’ll be getting ready for the race. Training is going quite well with a bit of a dip during therecent 2-week holiday break. Running around the half marathon distance now for my weekend long runs and this Sunday it gets upped to 15 miles. Knees have been giving me some grief but otherwise its great knowing I can actually run this far. Eating like a horse though! Highly recommend this to anyone wanting to get fit and do something for a good cause.

30/07 - Yesterday I ran the furthest I have ever run in my life - I suppose I will have the same feeling again and again over the next few months. 9.1 miles to be exact (about 15km), and I felt great! Bar a few twinges in the knees… Took the advice of my online coach and ran slowly (which comes naturally actually..;0) and finished feeling really good. I’m running 15-20 miles per week, which will increase later this month to around 25 miles. Did the Waddesdon 5km as a training run 2 weeks ago, which quite frankly was scary, as it’s more like a sprint than a jog. - I was left eating dust. It also happened to be the hottest day in the UK in 95 years! Was good fun though and important experience in terms of getting used to race conditions. My fundraising activity is also picking up and I have a few events planned including a wine tasting. Thanks to everyone who has given me such great support so far.

03/07 - The 18 week schedule to get me ready for the marathon starts today. It's a daunting prospect but I am ready to get going now. Have had a couple of issues with injury (fell on the Tesco's roundabout on a Saturday morning and ended up with more than a bruised ego!) and a bit of a cold, but otherwise have managed to get some mileage under my belt. Did my long training run this morning as we were away over the weekend which was a milestone in itself as it was a full 6.3 miles (just under 10km) and one of the longest I've done - I'm now getting used to running non-stop for an hour. Completed my first 10km road race last weekend too which went well!