On Sunday 10th September I’ll be taking part in the Great North Run on behalf of Muscular Distrophy UK.

MDUK is the charity for the 70,000 children and adults living with muscle-wasting conditions in the UK. There’s currently no cure, and in many cases it limits lives. MDUK do vital work in funding pioneering research into treatments and cures as well as providing much needed information, advice, resources and support for individuals and families living with these conditions.

I’ll be running with my friend Michael Eaton. Michael suffers from Beckers Muscular Dystropy. In his own words he’s lucky that it doesn’t bother him as much as many others. Indeed he rarely mentions it and never complains about it. I know however that it does affect him, and he continually has to work hard to overcome obstacles that just don’t exist for most of us.

His story is inspirational, driven by a love of running and a determination to never give up. Just a few years ago he struggled to walk even a short distance and used a wheelchair. He took it upon himself to change this and bit by bit got fit enough to start running, and then to run further, and eventually to run a very long way: In October last year he completed the London Marathon.

When he invited me to join him in running the Great North Run for MDUK I jumped at the chance.

Please take a look at the MDUK website if you’d like to learn more about them, and also search on Michael Eaton to find out more about his story. If you feel you’d like to help with a donation you can do so via this JustGiving page.

Thanks and all the best, Ian