Hello all! My quarter-life crisis (fine, my one-third life crisis) is in full swing and I’ve decided to run the London Marathon in April 2023. I’m using this as an opportunity to raise money for Alzheimer’s Research UK, which is the UK’s leading dementia research organisation. 

This is an issue that’s so important to me. My grandmother, Judy, suffered from dementia, and watching such a good person endure something so unfair in the last years of her life was a real eye opener for me and my family. But beyond that, dementia and Alzheimer’s is something that will affect almost all of us in some way, 1 in 3 people will be diagnosed with dementia. There aren’t any survivors of dementia, but Alzheimer’s Research UK is doing real, tangible work to change that and I’m so excited to run for this cause. My grandma was truly the coolest, and I’ll gladly sweat my bum off next to some bloke dressed like SpongeBob in her memory, and so that other people won’t go through what she did.

Here’s an article about Judy’s experience and the experience of other dementia sufferer’s during the pandemic: https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2020/05/29/covid-19-dementia-surviving?fbclid=IwAR0MXl0DvCI_5veEUyRrWZDy9arjy2l7tHJaciH_DuIfNb7cdBOkdDF9fhE

FUN BITS: Every donor of £20 can choose a song to add to my marathon playlist. Bangers or duds are both welcome, this is going to take a while so we have plenty of air time to fill.

I run a half marathon every month, which I will be posting on this page. You can also silently judge my progress on Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/matt_berkley

Thanks so much your support! 😊