My amazing dad, Cliff, will be 80 the week before the London Marathon, but he is unaware of his age, unaware of so many things these days. He has Vascular Dementia.

It's heart breaking to see someone you love, suffer. For an incredibly bright, intelligent, fit and generally healthy man, with a great zest for life, even harder. Everyone that knows my dad I'm sure would remember him, pre-Dementia, with a smile on his face - just a really lovely guy.

Throughout my 25 years as a Canoeist, he was my biggest supporter - coaching, videoing and driving me all over the world. Yet it was my decision to attempt run the London Marathon in 2016, after never running anywhere in my life, that equally surprised and impressed him the most! 

My dad is now in the later stages of Dementia, so I'm not sure exactly how much he understands about my attempt this year. It is completely different for me than anything else I've done before - I will be thinking of him every step of the 26.2 miles and running the marathon for him. The charity I've chosen to raise money for does fantastic things to support the families of those with Dementia and I couldn't be prouder to represent them. Please show your support by donating to DEMENTIA UK.

Finally, I've decided to try to run the marathon in fancy dress, hoping this will help to raise more money in the process...  I will try to break the Guinness World Record for the fastest time to run a marathon as a Children's TV Character. My boys are HUGE Mister Maker fans and we are now family friends with the man behind the spotty waistcoat, Phil Gallagher. He's another genuinely nice guy, so it just seems very apt...

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page, any donation, however small, will be greatly appreciated!! Helen xx

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.