Remember when I joked that I'd completed my first Parkrun and now I thought I could take on a marathon? Well here I am, running 26.2 miles for BRACE Dementia Research, and undoubtedly my hardest challenge yet.

As many of you know, we lost my lovely Nan this year who spent the last 18 months of her life in a specialist dementia care home before passing away in March. My Nan has been my biggest inspiration for as long as I can remember. She was always the strongest, bravest, most charismatic lady imaginable and if you've heard the saying "She could light up a whole room", that was my Nan. She was hilariously funny, had a wicked sense of humour and despite her old age, she was fiercely independent for the longest time.

I'll be honest with you, I have never really understood the devastating impact of dementia until recent years, both on those it affects and those who love them. To watch my Nan deteriorate in front of us over the course of 18 months was utterly heartbreaking but most of all, it was completely undignified for someone who deserved so much more.

One thing about my Nan was that she loved to hear about my various challenges - my trek across the Sahara or scaling the Jordanian mountains to Petra - and I have the best memories of telling her about each and every one and how her eyes would sparkle as she'd tell me, "Next time I think I'll come too." It feels like the perfect way to honour her memory, and support an incredible charity, by taking on my hardest challenge yet and I will do my absolute best to carry her memory across the finish line with the biggest smile on my face.

BRACE funds world-class clinical and laboratory research into Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia to find better treatments, achieve earlier diagnosis and, one day, a cure. The work they do is incredible but they need funding in order to make these break-throughs, give hope to more families and help those suffering to live longer and more than that, to live better.

Every single penny donated is so gratefully received and together, we will defeat dementia.