Hello. My name is Matthew and I decided some time last year to sign up for the Belfast Marathon to raise money for Dementia NI.

I’ve always grown up with ‘big bones’ and it may come as a surprise to you that the majority of my weight is not in fact on top of my shoulders! I’ve attempted to play multiple sports in the past all with slim signs of success, apart from Table Tennis (Northern Ireland Boy’s Brigade Table Tennis Champion … yes, I was part of a team of 3.)

24 years on this earth and I’ve managed to skate through by taking the easy roads and avoiding any obstacles in front of me. Each week I’d find a new hobby, buy all the equipment and by the time it arrived at the house, I’d have given up. Well, not this time!

I started running in January of last year as Father Christmas brought me a pair of Hoka Clifton 8s (certainly not an item I had put on my list). But maybe even Santa thought the weight I was putting on was getting too much. So, I decided to give it a go. I went for a 5km run and as you can expect … It was dreadful. I hated every second of it. I actually hated the next 40ish runs. Until one day, I woke up, went for a run, and it felt great. It became part of my weekly routine and it also became the solution for a lot of things. Feeling Fat? Run. Feeling Sad? Run. Mum asking for me to use my own money. RUN! RUN! RUN!

Therefore this year I am running the Belfast Marathon. 26.2 miles. 42.2km. 55,000 steps. Aiming to become part of the 0.5% to 1% of the global population that run a marathon at least once in their life (according to ChatGPT). Next question was why? Yes, a part of the reason why I’d be doing it is to lose weight but the real motivation is my Granda (who since I was able to talk, I’ve called Pappy.) His real name is Ivan and he is most known for working as the Lollipop Man for Carnmoney Primary School, picking up the notorious award of Belfast’s favourite lollipop person, beating 3,000 others and receiving over 40% of the votes.

In 2021, he was diagnosed with Vascular Dementia which is the second most common type of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease. Around 150,000 people in the UK are living with vascular dementia, with over 944,000 people in the UK living with some form of dementia. Therefore, estimating that 1 in 14 people over the age of 65 have dementia – with this number increasing rapidly. There is no cure. I don’t need to go into the details of how dementia has affected Pap and therefore my family. It’s tough and even tougher for my mum who has become his full time carer. Pap has played a huge part in my life; I’ve grown up constantly laughing at his incredible stories of his many jobs, and carrying his life advice into everything I do. I still remember catching birds under washing baskets in his garden even if he doesn’t (before you report us to the RSPCA – no birds were ever hurt and we let them go immediately!)

Dementia is a thief; it steals memories from the people we love. So therefore, this year I hope to raise some money for Dementia NI . And when the going gets tough which I can guarantee you it will, I can assure you I won’t give up like I have before.

I have created a private Instagram which I am using to document the journey to the Belfast Marathon. Please feel free to give it a follow: https://www.instagram.com/_fatt2fitt_?igsh=MW5xeTU0cWNtMTFtaQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

You can also follow along with my training plan runs LIVE on Strava: https://strava.app.link/byUTalt6GQb

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Dementia NI is a local charity supporting people living with dementia. People with dementia taking action, having their voices heard and improving the lives of everyone who has dementia.

The lives of people are dramatically changed by a dementia diagnosis. Our vision is to ensure everyone living with dementia in NI will receive an accurate and timely diagnosis, have access to appropriate services and will live well with the right support. We will continue to raise awareness, educate, train and challenge the stigma of dementia.