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My Dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in October 2006 at the age of 63.  Since then we have watched his progressive deterioration and, in virtually every way, my Mum has lost her husband, the Dad that my sister and I knew has gone and Rhiannon and Lucy will never really know their Granddad.  It has been hard and upsetting to see but I have become increasingly determined to do something positive and raise some money for Alzheimer’s Society who carry out vital support and research work. I have set myself a challenge.  From October 2010, 4 years since his diagnosis, I will run 63 ‘race’ miles before my Dad’s 68th birthday next July.  On the weekend of his birthday I will run a further 5 miles, one for every year since diagnosis.  This may not seem like much of a challenge but until 18 months ago I had done little more than run for a train or run after a disappearing toddler since leaving school 20 years ago.   Taking part in the first ‘Iron Mum ‘competition in Bramley last September got my running shoes on and so far this year I have taken part in Iron Mum again, run the Basingstoke Parkrun a few times and completed a couple of 10k races.  However, 63 race miles are a different matter and it is going to be a huge challenge.  It will require a lot of training and in addition to the 63 race miles, I am also aiming to do approximately 63 training miles a month, which gives me a scary total of 630 miles to run before July next year. My races will be: Great South Run – 10 miles – 24th October 2010 Bramley 10/20   - 10 miles – 20th February 2011 Reading Half Marathon – 13.1 miles – 20th March 2011 Brighton Marathon - 26.2 miles - 10th April 2011 London 10,000 – 6.25 miles (10k) – 30th May 2011 I will only make it through this challenge with the support of family and friends.  Many of you may have your own experience of family members suffering from Alzheimer’s and many of you have already been a huge support to me during recent years.  However, this time I am asking you all to please, dig deep and sponsor me to help me make a really significant amount of money for Alzheimer’s Society. I will keep this page updated following each run so you can track my progress and see photographic evidence!  As well as financial support, if anyone is up for joining me for a race or a training run, the moral support would be gratefully appreciated! 21/10/10 - I've just set up a blog to record my progress through this challenge.  If you're interested you can find it at http://runningforalzheimers.blogspot.com/ 27/10/10 - Great South Run successfully completed in 1 hour 32 minutes.  An amazing day - read my blog for more March 11 - Bramley 10 and Reading Half Marathon both completed, now on countdown to the Brighton Marathon! 16/4/11 - Still recovering from the Brighton Marathon but did it in 4 hours 20 mins so pretty happy and another great day. Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. 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 and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity. So please dig deep and donate now.

Running for Alzheimer's

Running for Alzheimer's

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