I am running the Manchester Marathon in memory of my Papa who passed away in May 2024.

Papa was an incredible father, grandfather, friend to many people. To list a few, Papa was known for his incredible kindness, hilarious jokes and wild imagination. Papa will always be remembered fondly by everyone who had the pleasure of meeting and knowing him. He loved the countryside, shooting, working Dora, and being part of the farm.

Sadly, 3 years ago, Papa was diagnosed with dementia. Over the 3 years Papa’s memory and independence slowly declined. In May, heaven gained a lovely soul that is greatly missed. Papa will always be remembered to be cheeky, life of the party and incredibly funny. Although these traits slowly declined over the years dementia never took these away. Papa has left a huge hole and is missed everyday. I hope that Papa’s stubbornness has been passed down to me and will push me around the 26.2 mile course and the tough training programme.

I will also be running for Shirley Allman who has recently received the diagnosis of vascular dementia. Having had dementia take control of our Papa and made him a shell of his past self, it is really difficult to see my boyfriend’s family, who have become my family, now go through the same process.

Alzheimer’s Society are working towards a world where dementia no longer devastates lives.

They do this by giving help to those living with dementia today, and providing hope for the future. They support the person diagnosed as well as the family as a whole.

I would like to help other families going through this difficult diagnosis and help make the experience less painful.

Seeing the impact dementia has on your loved ones is incredibly difficult and having support from other who also understand the emotions can be really helpful.

I know Papa will be looking down on me on this incredibly hard challenge and be my guardian angel.