Dementia slowly strips a person of their personality—the very thing that makes us who we are. And what really even are we without our personality?

I've seen firsthand how devastating this disease can be. My late great-grandfather had dementia, and my partner's family has also been affected, with both of her grandparents suffering from it. I also encountered it often while volunteering at a locale care home during sixth form, where George, a gentleman I used to visit, would always tell me the same story about his time in Cairo, Egypt during the war. He often mistook me for his son.

As we live longer and our population ages, more of us will face diseases like this - silent and creeping, slowly taking away everything that defines us.

While I’m primarily running the Manchester Half for personal health reasons, I also want to use this opportunity to do some good and raise money for a charity dedicated to researching dementia and its prevention.

Any donation, no matter how small, is truly appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to read.