At 50 years old, I have been lucky enough to have had the health and
support that has enabled me to run the London Marathon for the last two years. Each year with age and injury it has become harder but thankfully for me I am still doing it, just, although as I came across the finish line with Stewy last year we both said, “never again” and I truly thought I meant it. Stewy did!

Having run on both occasions for two fantastic charities with overwhelming support from all of you, I realised that on both occasions these charities chose me after some key events that have happened throughout my life.

So, in November last year, after an afternoon of drinking obviously far
too much beer in a bar in Bucharest with two friends, I thought it would be a good idea to run again in the London Marathon in 2017. This time without Stewy by my side, and this time being my last time, well until I get drunk again. So, I had to make a decision of which charity I would like to run for, this should have been easy but wasn’t. I wanted to run for two charities for different reasons but I couldn’t decide. The “NSPCC” or “Dementia UK”. After not a lot of deliberation I decided that I would run for both. This I thought would appeal to everyone young and old.

Many of you that know me, and those that know me well, will remember the care and nursing that I gave to Joan over the past 6 years. Sadly, on June 23^rd 2016 at 9.52pm Joan passed away peacefully in her sleep as I held her hand and stroked her hair telling her that everything will be fine. Joan lost her battle to Dementia, a very cruel disease that most people do not understand nor do they recognise until it’s too late and then do not have the know how or patience to deal with it. Some may think that the person they once knew has gone. Believe me when I say this, they are not gone, they are still very much there and need your love and support more now than ever.