Early in 2015 my younger brother Dave started to notice that his arms were becoming increasingly weak, and that he was getting tired very easily. After several months of waiting, he eventually received the devastating news that he had motor neurone disease.

As a result of the ice bucket challenge which happened in 2014, more people than ever will be aware of what this means. For those that don't - MND is a degenerative disease that results in death of motor neurones (the cells which control voluntary muscular movement of the body). It robs those who suffer from it of the use of their limbs, their voice and eventually their lungs. It is usually incredibly fast - in Dave's case he went from noticing clumsiness and weakness in his arms to being almost completely paralysed, using a ventilator and communicating using a computer in less than 15 months. Sadly, this is completely typical - 50% of people die within 2 years of diagnosis. It is also more common than a lot of people think - 1 in 300 people get it. The fast rate of disease progression means that help and guidance provided by the MNDA has been completely invaluable.

I am immensely proud of the dignity and strength which Dave showed during his illness, and I certainly will never push myself to the levels that Dave did both before and after his diagnosis, but I will certainly be giving the race my absolute all.