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3 years ago my dad died while
running his 74th parkrun. You would think this would put me off parkrun but actually not, and in 3 weeks I’ll (hopefully) be completing my 50th.

Parkrun seems a fitting way to raise money in memory of my dad as he loved it, and it was an important part of his life, but also I can see how it helps others. The benefits of exercise for health, and heart health in particular, are undisputed, with new research published this month showing that running can help reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51006325). Parkrun organise free, weekly 5k runs encouraging all kinds of people at all stages of life and all shapes and sizes to take up running and improve their health. It was actually parkrun that got me into running and led to me running a half-marathon- something I never thought I’d do. Obviously running a milestone brings up so many memories of my dad, so I thought it would be great to harness this into something for good.

In 2017 there were over 42,000 other people under the age of 75 who died from heart and circulatory conditions – they are one of the leading causes of death in the UK. Therefore, I have decided that in honour of my dad I would like to raise money for Northern Ireland Chest, Heart and Stroke who not only support people living with chest, heart and stroke conditions but do prevention work in schools and through lobbying, research and health promotion. By supporting this charity, we can help prevent other families from going through the same loss we went through.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.