I ran the Great North Run this year for Parkinson's UK. My Dad was diagnosed with Parkinson's in the Summer of 2020, and I really wanted to raise some money, raise some awareness, and to give him something to look forward to and put a smile on his face.

I've never been much of a runner, and I genuinely thought throughout my training (particularly when I slipped a disc in my back with 10 weeks to go) that I would do this one run and then be done. I can't pretend that I enjoyed all of the run, but somewhere between seeing the look on my Dad's face as I crossed the line, and the incredible support and energy of the volunteers for Parkinson's UK on the day I decided that I needed to do more to raise money for this amazing cause.

I've now set myself the worryingly large challenge of doing that all again another 12 times, I'm aiming to run a Half Marathon race each month for the next year, culminating in returning to the GNR, where if all goes well I hope that my brothers and Dad will all run with me, and we can cross the line together, bringing the journey full circle, and hopefully raising a lot of money over the year.

I'll be aiming to do the following:

October- Coniston 14 mile race

November- Reading Half Marathon

December- Heaton Park Half Marathon (Manchester)

January- Funchal Half Marathon (Madeira)

February- Portsmouth Coastal Half Marathon

March- Bath Half Marathon

April- Southampton Half Marathon

May- Edinburgh Half Marathon

June- Aarhus City Half Marathon (Denmark)

July- Drumlarig Trail Half Marathon

August- Jonkoping Half Marathon (Sweden)

September- Great North Run

I'll be keeping this page up to date throughout the year with details of all my runs as well as my training, which will hopefully provide everybody with either some entertainment or some inspiration!

I think it goes without saying that this will be a huge challenge, and I will be spending most of the next year pretty tired and even more grumpy than normal, so please do support in any way you can, it will all help to spur me on.

Matt