Family reasons prompted me to approach Mencap when I ran my inaugural marathon way back in 1982. I became their first runner and have supported Mencap over the years since then. The idea of the 'Adam' outfit came about in 1986 when supporters suggested I dress as a giant gorilla so they could pick me out among the growing fleet of runners, I didn't fancy something so big and cumbersome and opted for the fig-leaf costume so I would be easy to spot but it would also allow me to run a fast time in such a lightweight costume. It went down so well I have been using it (or later versions) ever since. I even braved the elements in 2020 to run similarly attired for the Virtual event around my home village of Furneux Pelham.

Running in London again in October 2022 and then April 2023 and 2024 I was delighted to achieve fast enough times to qualify for a Good For Age automatic entry on all 3 occasions, something I never achieved in my younger years. Having reached the grand old age of 76 my qualifying time is now 5hrs10min but I beat that by more than half an hour last year and this winter's training suggests I can do even better this April. So here I am continuing my support for Mencap once more.

Mencap is a long established charity whose work many of you will be very familiar with, caring for children and adults with a wide spectrum of learning difficulties, whether it be Downs Syndrome, Autism or any of a whole range of mental health problems Mencap are there to help. Like all charities they are still reeling from the effect that the pandemic had on their funding so every penny I can raise will add much needed funds to their coffers and help with the fantastic work they do every day of the year. I am happy to suffer 26.2 miles of pain if it means that Mencap gets the gain.

I hope that you choose to chip in, however small or large your donation, all will be most gratefully received. You can find my fundraising page by searching for justgiving.com/page/bob-deacon-1 where you will find more information and pictures. And don’t forget to tick the GiftAid box so the government has to top up your donation with an extra 25%.