Last year my grandmother had her 4th and what turned out to be her final heart attack with her dying on my 45th Birthday. 

When I look back at that time the last time we had a conversation was a few days before. I have a picture on my phone of that moment. She is sitting in a chair drinking a cup of tea. 

What makes me think about this is that if I had known that this was the last time that we would have spoken would I have done or said something else? What it has made me think is that life is to short an fragile to have second thoughts or worry too much about the future, and to focus on the present.

So in October last year I decided that I was going to do something challenging and decided to run a Marathon. The Birmingham International Marathon is in my home town so why not!. Please bear in mind the first time I went for a 'run' (I use the word loosely) I could not even make it 500m without having to stop and really started to question whether I would physically be able to do this. Since then I have persevered going out in all weather conditions, pulled muscles and got myself into a shape where I can complete this challenge.  Over 200 runs and about 700 miles 

What I also decided that I was going to try and do this for a reason and despite looking at lots of different charities decided to opt for the Alzheimer Society. The main reason is that it frightens me. 

There is no cure and no way of preventing it. All we can do is delay the onset. The chance of this disease developing doubles over the age of 65 with one in every 14 people over 65 and one in 6 for people over 80.