So... some history from Jon...

When I snapped my ACL last year I wanted to set a rehab target, and as I was pretty much due to be running again around the time of the Royal Parks Half it seemed a good fit. I managed to rope Charlotte into doing it too :-)

I felt it was a good fit as I last did the Royal Parks Half 7 years ago; and as strange as this may seem when you read the rest of this story, I have fond memories of that run.

Back then I also raised money for the National Autistic Society. And the preparation and experience of that run really did help with another kind of recovery - that time emotional rather than physical - at least for the short while I was focussed on it.

My daughter Callie was a vibrant, smart, interesting young woman - but she found living in a world that doesn’t understand or support autistic people quite challenging at times. Callie wrote “As an autistic, I long for a world where autistic people can exist happily, but I’m not sure this can ever happen. [The world] is not designed for people like me.”

She wrote this a few months before that 2018 Royal Parks Half. Shortly after writing it she killed herself, aged 24.

People with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are significantly more likely to commit suicide than members of the general population. Adults with ASD often also suffer secondary depression due to social isolation, ‘underachievement’, unemployment and the lack of high quality services to support them. ASD children are twice as likely to be excluded from school; often for simply displaying distressed behaviour created by a lack of support and understanding.

As well as providing support to people with ASD and their families, the National Autistic Society also campaigns for greater understanding of autism, which hopefully may one day lead to a better world for autistic people.

I know this is a very heavy story, and it's now a few years since Callie died, but I still believe the work the Autistic Society does is incredibly important. So if you are able to sponsor us, please do. We will be very grateful.

I'm afraid that we aren't going to do this half in a 'good' time, and our training has been abysmal - but your money will still go to a very, very good cause.

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