Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

On 4th May 2015 I will run the Belfast marathon,  my very first foray into the marathon world. In fact I only started running at the end of May 2014 and anyone that knows me can testify that I was never much of an athlete!

I wanted to start running to improve my own health for myself and for my family (yes Cormac & Pearse are that demanding!!)

The results have been brilliant to date both physically and mentally. I began running the Waterworks 5k parkrun in Belfast every Saturday and I've taken it from there.

But I don't want it to end there;  I want to contribute to a charity when running the biggest physical challenge in my life and I have chosen the Alzheimers Society as I have seen the effect this silent killer has on a person. My Wife, Moira's aunt, Nora Brady from Co. Antrim developed Alzheimers a few years ago and the decline has been devastating, swift and cruel.

 Nora travelled the world, was 100% independent,  read non stop and her garden was a credit to her. She enjoyed nothing more than spending time with her family; but today Alzheimers has stolen all of this from Nora along with the ability to even recognise her most loved friends and family. Nora was always very kind to Moira and she even participated in reading at our wedding, so I think its the least I can do to run the marathon for Nora and this cause to raise a few pounds to try and help beat this illness and increase its awareness.

It costs £30,000 a year to care for a person with Alzheimers yet only £90 per head of those affected is spent per annum on research.Today around 850,000 people live with Alzheimers in the UK and this is set to increase to 2 million by 2051 - that means there is a good chance of me or any of you reading this could develop this life stealing disease. That is why I think its vital we act now and fund research to try and find a cure or preventative treatment before its too late.

Please donate something no matter how small it is appreciated and believe me, I'm going to feel every centimetre of the 26.2 miles of Belfast that I'm going to be treading come May 4th!!

Thank you for taking the time to read this and hopefully your support.

Seamus

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